Hey Brother
by silksenseoverload
Summary: RedX returns - more deadly than before. Robin unknowingly drifts apart from the team, leaving Starfire and Speedy to reevaluate their positions and Cyborg to reflect on whether he should accept the Justice League's offer. Beast Boy realises the team is falling apart and Raven steps up to be the main voice of reason. Will the Teen Titans still believe in one another?
1. The endless road to rediscover

**Like many other Teen Titans fans, I too believe that the RedX is Jason Todd. This idea has been in my mind for quite some time now, but not all chapters have been written. So if I do ever go on hiatus (again), it'll be due to the insane amount of exams approaching soon. Please forgive me and stay patient for more chapters. Thank you (and enjoy!)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. Teen Titans belong to DC (which totally stands for disappointing comics) and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 _1 month before RedX reappeared_

 _'It seems that in Gotham, the Dark Knight has reemerged from the black of the night with a new Robin going by the alias 'Red Robin'! The new dynamic duo effortlessly took down Two-Face robbing a bank at 8:22 tonight. However, rumours say that this Robin is just the second Robin in a new costume, but die-hard Batman fans have confirmed that this Robin's physical attributes is very different compared to Gotham's second Robin. Could the Red Robin just be the second Robin in a newly designed suit and name? If not, what has happened to Gotham city's previous Robin? This is Channel 52, and we'll be returning tonight at 11:00 for our final news roundup.'_

Dick Grayson sighed, switched off the news, blinked a couple of times to stop tears from showing, and put on his domino mask. So the Bat thinks that he can just keep replacing his Robins without a second thought? Sure, sounds reasonable enough for a city of crime...but for his adoptive sons? Wait, no.

 _Son_

Batman is once again down to one official adoptive son, and Dick really wished that was never the case. He stared at the blank screen, regretting that he didn't even say goodbye to his processor before-

"You should really stop thinking about that. The past belongs in the past. No matter what you do, you can't change it…trust me, I've tried."

The first son of Batman turned to see their local empath brewing herself another cup of tea. "It's hard not to." He replied, "and to think that he didn't even want me to help after what happened."

"I suppose it's part of his reputation though," Raven said, as she reaches up the cupboard for another mug, "Batman works alone. Remember?" She approaches him and holds out a mug for him. Herbal tea may not be everyone's favourite beverage but it's a good way to calm the mind.

"I just wished I was there for him...for both Batman and...and Robin. If I were-"

"What would you have done? It could've still happened." Raven's normally monotone voice held the slightest emotion - sadness. She felt her chest constricting when they talked about fallen friends, not that she knew the second Robin well, but he was a hero, just like she was. According to her friend, he would've been on the Teen Titans if Batman allowed it, but it seemed that for the Second Robin, joining the Teen Titans just wasn't meant to be. "Look, Robin. Some things are inevitable, even…if we don't want them to. I've tried stopping the future from happening, and that's not possible…not for me anyway. We should honour him by keeping our cities safe, exactly like how he would want it."

Robin drank his tea silently, his face void of emotion. _He'd probably want all the chili dog stands to be funded by Wayne Enterprises..._

Though Robin was not displaying his mournfulness, Raven could feel his energy weakening; she could feel his sorrow and guilt through his masks of confidence; she could feel him screaming for his successor, begging for another chance to see him again. He took another sip, and his soul slowly calmed down.

Robin was thankful he had a friend like Raven, though he was sure she didn't understand _everything_ about him or his identity, but it was times like this that made him feel connected to his teammate. The two birds sat together quietly, it was their way of bonding, and it was rare that the tower was completely still.

Beast Boy, Starfire and Cyborg went out for groceries and possibly pizza, despite what their leader said. After all, none of them ever worked for Batman so they didn't have anyone to control their diet. Upon hearing the garage door screech open, Raven stood up and floated towards the door to welcome her teammates home.

Dick Grayson let out one last sigh, before turning to his teammates as Robin.

* * *

Jason Todd slammed his fists on the wall, causing the cement to crack just a little. The pictures and videos shown of the Red Robin tailing Batman on their first mission just kept mocking him and his failure.

He lost his chance, and now someone better has come to claim his position. He let out a sob and sank to the floor, his hand clutching a photo of him and his mentor.

He was replaced in a span of 10 months. Was he really that unimportant? Was he only seen as a failure is Batman's eyes? He was certain that the first Robin had thought that he was useless, given that he wasn't particularly nice to him when he first took the mantle. It's been 10 months and the media had only mentioned how the Batman went solo once more.

Maybe this was just how things worked in the superhero business. If he was being replaced, _fine_ , he can deal with it. If the Replacement can do a better job than he did, then he'd let it slide. As heroes, it was instinct to put the need of others before their own.

What he couldn't forgive was why _he_ still roamed the streets of Gotham. He may have only been back for a few months, but he's seen the articles, the pictures, the videos. Though it was no longer worldwide- heck, even national- news about Gotham's Prince (or was it King, now?) of Crime terrorising the city again, it was shocking to him.

It's been 10 months, his murderer still walked freely. What the _hell_ has the Bat been doing.


	2. Water's thick but blood is thicker

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. Teen Titans belong to DC (which totally stands for disappointing comics) and Warner Bros.**

* * *

'...The Teen Titans have once again prevented a wave of villains from attacking our cities. In other news, the Joker has been found to have been severely beaten, countless bones fractured and/or broken, and covered in gasoline, leaving The Batman to return him to Arkham Asylum for healing. From security cameras, it seems that he was beaten by a crowbar, however, the Joker's attacker is currently unknown. The GCPD suspect their newest villain, the RedX, is behind this commotion. This is Channel 52, and we'll return shortly after this break.'

It's simple: There is good and there is evil. There are those who commit crimes and those who stop them. The two sides are opposite, as different as day and night. And the line between them is clear... Or at least, it's supposed to be.

The RedX has helped Robin a number of times, though usually at a price. For all Robin knew, the RedX probably only aggravated the Titans for entertainment, but this? Beating up the Joker, and almost killing him? This was a new level of crazy.

Robin printed the newest article from the Gotham Gazette and pinned it onto his wall. Nothing seemed to add up. One second RedX was just robbing a bank, and then he's back to assisting the Titans even though they could handle themselves. The next week or so, he's back on the streets, stealing from a jewellery shop, the guy even left a note for Robin saying 'You'll catch me next time, little birdie.', then there'll be reports saying how he crippled two drug dealers in Steel City. Nothing added up, no matter how hard Robin tried to piece them together, something contradictory would happen and he'd have to go back to square one.

He wasn't obsessed. He wasn't like his mentor - at least he prayed that he didn't turn out like him. He just needed to find the RedX and stop him from terrorising businesses and banks. The RedX was a mistake. A mistake Robin swore he wouldn't repeat again, and that's all there is to it.

Every time he mentioned it to his team, Beast Boy would strongly suggest that RedX was Jason Todd. The entire hero community (and possibly the villain community as well) knew about the death in the Batfamily, so why would Beast Boy ever think of this being a possibility?

Despite what the evidence shows, a small voice at the back of Dick Grayson's head keeps telling him, what if Beast Boy was onto something? Albeit seemingly impossible, what if his successor, his _baby brother_ , his _Jaybird_ was in fact, still alive?

Three knocks on his door stopped his trail of thought. "Richard? Cyborg says that dinner is ready now, and you should go down before it's cold." Starfire was alien, and yet she walked on his Earth, would the possibility of Jason being alive be that preposterous?

"Richard?"

"I'm coming, Star." he opened the door to see Starfire smile brightly at him. "Well someone's had a good day."

"Indeed! Earlier today, Beast Boy persuaded Raven to try his tofu recipe and in exchange, Beast Boy learnt the art of tea-making!"

"I was wondering why the Tower was awfully quiet today."

"It was most enlightening to see them get along." Starfire beamed.

Robin cracked a small smile.

"GRAYSON, WOULD YOU MOVE A LITTLE FASTER? WE'RE STARVING HERE!"

"WHAT'S YOUR RUSH ALL YOU EAT IS TOFU!"

"DON'T BE RUDE, VIC! RAE, YOU'VE TRIED MY TOFU, IT'S NOT ALL BAD."

"Garfield, I would appreciate it if you didn't remind me of the terrible choices I made today."

"RAVEN HOW COULD YOU? I THOUGHT WE BONDED!"

* * *

RedX was filled with rage. How could Batman still let that…that curse upon humanity still walk around Gotham? For a man of justice, he surely put his spiritual needs before the need of the city. He keeps saying that killing isn't right, but that just stops him from enforcing justice to the Joker's victims!

He wasn't talking about Poison Ivy, Two-Face or, hell, The Riddler. He was talking about _The Joker_. The one that took him away from Batman. The one that has made probably millions of people lose something or someone they love. The Joker deserves every death penalty known to mankind, and he was _so_ close tonight…but…he still couldn't do it.

It wasn't how the madman pleaded, or the voice in his head telling him it was wrong, because in his eyes, this was everything but wrong. It was just the face of what he could've called family staring at him with shock, horror and disappointment. It was Batman confirming that he wasn't supposed to be a Robin in the first place.

These mind games needed to stop. He had come so far, and was so close to finishing what he started, he needed himself to wake up and face his fears. But that pain in his chest, those screams echoing in his head, the memories of how he came back to life just keep replaying in his mind.

A trip to Jump City should fix him up. It's been a while since he last saw Dick Grayson. He's made it his personal duty to make his adoptive brother's life a living hell, and of course it's not because he misses him since he doesn't grow attached to anyone or anything.

He was the dead, broken bird with something wrong with him, a bank robbery should lighten his spirits. There's no milk or bread in the fridge anyway, might as well use that money to buy more supplies.

* * *

Starfire couldn't sleep. Not without knowing whether Robin retired to bed yet, or was still up solving this big case of his that he kept a secret from his team. Robin had been in that room of his all day, and even when the team decided to have a movie night, he refused the offer and returned to that enclosed room. She went to Raven to have her make sure he was fine, but the empath just told her to leave him alone.

It was Slade all over again, and she couldn't just stand there and watch him go insane with another case. She told Cyborg of what troubled her, and he only shook him head and told her the same thing Raven did. But she was not about to 'leave him alone' and let him 'get over it', after all, what were friends for?

She flew to his room, as she was just about to knock, the alarms sounded. On cue, the Titans sprang out of bed and raced to the T-Car. Starfire sighed. Perhaps when they get back from this mission, she could have a talk with her friend about his unhealthy habits.

"Ugh, RedX? I thought we were done with this guy!" Whined Beast Boy, who was still in his pyjamas.

"We're never ever going to be 'through' with anyone, BB." Said Cyborg, drawing up more footage on what was currently happening.

"Does X ever sleep?" yawned the changeling, as he hurried back to his room to put on his uniform.

"All right," said Robin, walking up to the rest of his team, "Raven you're with me. Star, Cyborg and Beast Boy are on damage control, let's try to contain this within 3 blocks. This shouldn't take too long."

The Team split up and hunted down their old nemesis. Raven noticed that RedX was surprisingly less energetic today, no quick comebacks or insults whatsoever. She also realised that Robin was a little distracted when the pair fought. His mind wasn't fully onto taking the RedX down, in fact, he seemed to be trying to take the mask off. Who could blame him? He's been trying to figure out the identity of the man (or woman, but most likely a man) who stole his suit.

RedX was really out of it today, seeing that he almost fell off a rooftop, if Raven hadn't been with Robin, he didn't know what he would've done to save X. The cops were waiting to arrest the criminal, but RedX escaped - as usual - and left a note behind for Robin.

 _'Miss me?'_

The reasonable part of Robin repeated how such a thing would be impossible, but the more hopeful side of him swore that he knew that scribbly handwriting from somewhere other than the multiple notes X has left.

That night he was up at it again. Making new changes to his mind-map, new theories and facts about the RedX. Robin checked the clock on the table, next to his birdarangs.

 _04:38 AM_

If Batman taught him anything, it would be how to make your body believe you've slept for 6 hours when in reality you've only slept for half the time.


	3. When the sky comes falling down

**(A/N: The** **Teen Titans fandom is so dead but that's okay. It lives in our hearts and memories. ALSO: Who's excited for the upcoming animated Judas Contract?)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. Teen Titans belong to DC (which totally stands for disappointing comics) and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 _The blood that had once flowed thick and scarlet in his veins now stained the blistering ground. Beside him was a crowbar, and the beeping sound of a bomb._

 _He was helpless._

 _00:00.3_

 _Bruce is going to come._

 _00:00.2_

 _He'll never let me die._

 _00:00.1_

 _He'll be here in no time…_

 _00:00.0_

 _Hazy strings of black floated upward, distorting and spiralling. His raspy screeches of agony were covered by the endless veil of darkness. He gasped for air, only to choke and cough. He could hear voices in the distant, but he couldn't make out who they were. Seconds ago he was in an abandoned warehouse in the Middle East, beaten and bruised, with fires eating away his body. Now he was drowning in a pool of pain, misery and agony. He couldn't really see anything, but this strange glowing light green essence seemed to cover his body, as if consuming his very being._

 _He was fairly sure he died. So why the fuck was he drowning?_

 _Jason Todd had never felt so alive during his short-lived life. The thirst for blood built up inside his body. He needed to kill._

 _His arms flailed around around, reaching as high as they could, hoping someone would hear the desperate wails emitted from his ruptured throat. Before he realised, something was pulling him up, they uncovered his eyes. He took his chance and attacked without missing a beat._

 _These people had katanas. What were they? Ninjas?_

 _Scratch that - they were assassins._

 _He used all his energy and struck them down one by one, using only his broken body controlled by a (currently) damaged mind. He didn't care less if he died, someone needed to pay for his pain._

 _There was a woman in the wave of men, he attempted to knock her out without hesitation, but she was faster, perhaps stronger, her fist came in contact with his face. He tumbled backwards but was ready to strike again, but his vision blurred, his head throbbed, the woman he recognised as Talia Al Gaul slowly melted into someone more ruthless, more unforgiving._

 _He was back at the warehouse. That damned laughter filling his ears. The same kind of pain piercing through his body._

 _It was dark once again._

Jason sits up and throws his knife the wall out of defence. His gasps for air were unheard as tears fill his eyes and his body shakes rapidly. He reminds himself that he's far from the clown's clutches and calms down. His once tense muscles shift and slowly relax as he plopps back down onto the bed, he shutting his eyes hard, trying to get rid of the tears.

Dick had once told him that it was okay to cry.

How he hated being so vulnerable in front of his brother. He hated Dick Grayson, the perfect child, the golden boy, the _first Robin._ Not because Dick was mean to him at the beginning…but because he knew that he could never fill the shoes of the first Robin. Dick Grayson is perfect in every way, and Jason Todd is nothing more than a broken bird whose wings were shot off.

He will never be the Robin Batman needed. He'll always just be the failed Robin.

* * *

Roy Harper should've known better.

It wasn't exactly a shock when he found out that the Green Arrow was only using him for his personal benefit. Just because the guy took you in, gave you a place to stay and a semi-stable job that sometimes may or may not include stitching up your boss' wounds, doesn't mean he was sincere enough to not take advantage of you.

He should've known that the Green Arrow would sell his technology, honestly, how did he not see that coming? Oliver Queen wasn't exactly a guy that kept his mouth shut around the people he cared about - unless he never truly cared about Roy - but a heads up to selling Roy's inventions should have been crucial enough for him to bring it up at either the Arrowcave or the damned building Roy used to be constantly trapped in.

Earlier tonight, Teen Titans East went head to head with some unheard gang that apparently had a huge network in the criminal underworld. It wasn't _that_ hard taking them down, but Speedy swore that he saw one of his early RoyBot prototypes in their hands.

Bumblebee scolded him for poking around Queen Industries' classified information, but after Speedy explained the situation, she didn't say anything else. He was never one to explain things, Bumblebee rarely ever saw him outside the training deck or his quarters, and when she did see him, it was when they had a team meeting or when dinner was served. She was glad that he was opening up to her after a months of working together, but hesitated on whether she should call Robin. Or Kid Flash. After all, they did team up several times when they were still under their respective mentors' watchful eyes.

Aqualad told Speedy to take it easy and get some rest, it was quite a fight, but nothing they couldn't manage. Speedy ignored him - as usual - but mumbled a _'good night'_ to get the team off his back.

He didn't care if Ollie was going to ring him up the next morning, asking why he invaded the company's intel. He needed to know for sure that he wasn't going insane or anything.

His hacking skills were never up to Robin's standards, but it was good enough to get past multiple security algorithms. After a solid two hours of going through files of technology sales, he finally landed on what he was looking for.

Oliver Queen had taken his designs, claimed them as his own, and sold them for profit. It wasn't _just_ the RoyBots, there were countless other gadgets, sold to companies worldwide for reasons unknown. Unfortunatley, some of his inventions landed in the hands of criminals.

Scratch that, a whole 40% of them went to criminals. Whether Ollie noticed this or not, he was not going to let it slide.

Hunting down all his tech would be too problematic…but if he convinced Ollie to stop making profits off them it'll make his life easier. After all, they were all just underdeveloped prototypes that seemed like they were completed; pressing the wrong combinations on those designs could cause catastrophic disasters.

* * *

Villains never learn. They just keep coming back again, and again…and again… _and again_ with full knowledge that the Titans would return them back to prison. Mumbo Jumbo was at it again, except that he now had two wands instead of one. It really didn't make much of a difference, but apparently it seemed more menacing. What really proved to be problematic was that Mumbo had created several diversions all over Jump City.

"Starfire and I will take the upper east while you Raven, and Beast Boy will take care of the unidentified creatures causing havoc in the west, south and northwest." Robin ordered. "He's creating out of his wand, so if you see Mumbo, attack him immediantly. We can't have him creating more diversions." With that, the team split up and took down of their respective opponents.

It took roughly 10 minutes to fight Mumbo, and another 5 to capture him. Cyborg had called it an afternoon workout to burn the fat and carbs from lunch, which had caused Robin to remind Beast Boy that still hadn't completed his training for the day. Raven smirked as Cyborg pat his best friend on the back encouragingly. Starfire, however, drowned them out after that. She loved her teammates - they were family to her - but did they see her the same way?

 _7 minutes ago_

Shooting starbolts at Mumbo's minions wasn't exactly a challenge.

Crowd control was.

Starfire tried her best to contain the crowd and get them inside a building or the subway underground. Robin really shouldn't have split up with her _and_ give her the area with the most tourists. She multitasked between fighting evil minions, while preventing damage to the city and also containing the fight within 4 blocks as Robin instructed.

Tourists were not used to this commotion, and honestly who could blame them?

Starfire had made sure she paid attention to her surroundings while multitasking. A few blocks away, below the nearly collapsing bridge was a man who wasn't going to make it out, she flew at her top speed and quickly swooped the man to safety.

"Motherfu- don't touch me, outsider!" Starfire was taken aback, normally citizens showed gratitude rather than cursing at them.

"I apologise for startling you, but it was for your own-"

"What? Safety? I haven't felt safe ever since _you aliens_ came along. Especially you!" He jabbed his finger at Starfire's shoulder, causing her to take a few steps back, "Jump City used to be quiet, with villains coming around occasionally every few months. Ever since you showed up with an entire alien race, the city immediantly descended to chaos!" He man cried, face red with anger and annoyance.

"Sir, the Titans are only trying to help."

"I'm not talking about the Titans, I'm talking about you! You don't belong here on Earth! Stop making it your home! Before the human race knows it, Aliens will have taken over."

Starfire didn't know how to react. She knew she had made a mistake to attack the humans when she first arrived, but that was out of instinct and fear. For every day she walked on Earth, she has tried to redeem herself, and help the city instead of destroy it.

"You better watch your back, missy. You're a _walking nuclear bomb._ Something we shouldn't ever have on Earth. Go back to where you're from if you truly want to save the Earth, you're a danger to others _and_ yourself."

The man wasn't entirely wrong. She is, after all, a dangerous alien, capable of immense destruction. But she has control over herself and her powers…she would never turn her back to those in need, and Jump City needed heroes to help keep order.

But he was right. Starfire is a walking nuclear reactor.

And she was extremely dangerous.


	4. Nothing in this world I wouldn't do

**Thank you to lifeishard2000 and guest runner for reviewing. I really appreciate it, thank you guys so much.**

 **TO RUNNER: same, I wish I could learn how to deceive my brain. 24 hours is just never enough time. Also, regarding your comment about RedX, I do apologise for not making this clearer in previous A/Ns, but since the RedX in this fic is confirmed to be Jason Todd, I kinda tweaked his character a little, and followed more closely to the comics than the show. So, sorry that RedX seems a little OOC, thank you for pointing that out though, I'll try to portray him so he fits both the comics AND the show.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. Teen Titans belong to DC (which totally stands for disappointing comics) and Warner Bros.**

* * *

For the next week, Kori kept to herself. She hadn't told her teammates about what happened during the fight with Mumbo, and she wasn't planning to. Perhaps, if she tried harder in being a Titan, the public would change their views and accept her as who she is.

Tonight, the Titans West would be joining the Titans East at Steel City for a celebratory dinner. It was Mas y Menos' birthday, and the pair wanted both divisions of the Titans to be there for the celebration.

The atmosphere was warm and welcoming, even at a place like Steel City. Over several missions, the Titans East had really bonded into a family much like the Titans West. Of course, they still weren't as close, but no one was complaining. They treated one another like family instead of just allies and that's what was important to the team.

Speedy knew that it would be selfish to talk about his personal problem regarding Queen Industries with Robin at a joyous time such as this, so he kept quiet. Starfire was trying to smile her brightest for her relatively new friends. It was a day of hope and happiness, and she did not want to ruin their day just because she met an overly angry man during the previous week.

Robin, however, knew something was wrong with two of his closest friends. Raven stood beside the Boy Wonder after realising similar emotions were reflecting from both the archer and the alien. "You take Speedy, I'll take Star." said the empath. Robin gave her a curt nod, and proceeded to drag Speedy away from the scene.

"What's up, Rob?"

"Roy, we've been friends for years, ever since training. If you think I won't be able to tell that you're sad, then you're incredibly dense."

"Wow, _Dick_ move." replied the archer, as an attempt to get his friend off his back for the moment. At times like this, they should really just enjoy rather than stress about things. It was inconsiderate to Mas y Menos.

"It's been years since you've used that one." said the boy wonder, a slight smirk tugging at the edge of his lips. "What's wrong."

"What if I said 'nothing'?"

Robin raised an eyebrow, "I was trained to be a human lie detector, Roy. Now, talk."

And talk he did. He told Dick about Oliver using his technology, and how he caught a gang using them as well. He told him about his findings while tapping into the Queen Industries files. He told him how betrayed he felt, and how Oliver used him. He hold him how he felt like more like a tool than a _partner._ He told him how he was done with Oliver, and his plans to go after the gangs after he's stopped Queen Industries from producing his inventions.

Dick remained silent, torn between two choices:

1\. Let him go after Oliver and the gangs with his gadgets, but risk losing the Roy Harper he knew.

OR

2\. Make sure he stays with the Titans, and go after Oliver himself. Risk losing his position in the Teen Titans.

One thing was clear to him though : there was nothing in this world he wouldn't do for his friends.

"Dick, I've known you long enough to understand your seemingly blank facial expressions. But no, I have to do this on my own."

 _On my own._

The three words that Dick hated. The same three words that got Jason killed. The last three words the Batman ever spoke to him.

"Roy, even if you do stop Queen Industries from making money off your inventions, I still don't think it's wise to go after all those gangs yourself."

This earned a scoff from the archer. "Who said I was gonna do _that_ myself? I know where to find help when I need it." Dick raised an eyebrow doubtfully."I'm not like your old man, Dick."

* * *

"Starfire, we need to talk."

"Raven! Join us in the pinning of the tail on the-"

"Kori."

She recognised the unnatural tense and strain in Raven's voice. She quickly handed Cyborg her traditional Tamaranean Throknarr and floated behind Raven, following her to the rooftop. She wasn't nervous, she had no reason to! It wasn't like she had second doubts about her validity on the team or anything!

"Kori, for Azarath's sake, your emotions have been haywire lately. I keep feeling your anxiety all over the place, so why don't you just TELL me what's going on?"

Kori's feet touched the ground. Her usual bright aura was dimmed. Raven could feel Kori's heart forming knots, seemingly in attempt to strangle herself.

Raven sighed. "Kori, I know I'm not extremely nice to you - or to anyone for that matter- but please know that I care about you" she started, "you can be an annoyance sometimes, but that's just part of who you are. I have to come in terms with that because you're not just my teammate, but you're also my friend. You've always tried to be there for me...And right now, you're not happy, so...I'm going to try to be here for you."

Kori didn't want to tell her. Not because she didn't trust her, or was afraid Raven would agree with the man - what was she thinking? Raven is half demon herself! She was afraid of what Raven may think of her and how truly pathetic she was. It was nothing but a comment by an ordinary civilian who was probably having a bad day so he took it on her. Yes perhaps that was it! There is noting to worry about-

"Starfire, I normally don't do this but I feel like you really need it." she gestured for Kori to begin speaking, but the princess simply looked down. "Your emotions are all tangled up again and it bothers me. Not just because I can feel that you're troubled, but because you're refusing to open up." Said Raven in her usual monotone voice.

Koriand'r sighed. "If I tell you, you promise not to tell anyone else?"

Raven nodded, and Kori told her everything. She started with the attack by Mumbo, and then about the comments that ungrateful man spit in her face. She told Raven about her doubts and her validity on the Titans. Once she started talking, she just couldn't stop. She knew Raven was a good listener, but she had expected Raven to cut her off halfway. She didn't, instead Raven hugged her. Raven wasn't the type to comfort one by physical contact, but it warmed her heart to know that she could always find comfort in her friends. She accepted the sudden embrace, Kori hadn't known that she needed one.

Raven ensured Kori's doubts by replacing her woes with words of wisdom and kindness, and also reminded her that the Titans get hate messages every other week when they wrecked a couple of buildings anyway so Kori shouldn't worry too much. Kori laughed a little at that, and decided that she should just forget about what the man had said.

The two friends returned to the party to find Kid Flash finally joining them. For someone with super speed, it was a wonder why he was late to almost every event.

 _Must've taken after his mentor._

Despite how her heart seemed to weigh a lot less, a small piece of Kori still held the doubt from before.

* * *

"Is this really it, X?"

"You said not to 'trigger any alarms' and 'don't alert the Titans'. This was how much I was able to carry without tripping on anything important."

A sigh came after that reply. "All right. Boys, give him the promised amount."

A body bag filled with A Hundred dollar bills was thrown to X's feet. "A body bag? Really? Couldn't afford a fancy briefcase?"

Shut your trap, X. You got your share, and you're still alive. Consider yourself lucky."

If only they knew how dead the Red X had felt for 12 months a couple of years ago. But never mind that. He had an opponent now, and he was determined to overthrow this new crime lord because this kingpin was threatening his reputation as Jump City's number one big bad when it came to thievery. He figured that taking this gang down from the inside would not only be entertaining, but he'd also get to mess with the Teen Titans like he'd used to.

Of course, the only downside to this is the rumours regarding whether the RedX was a puppet for someone else - which he was _not._

Though it may appear that the RedX was under someone's command, it was really just for kicks and taking down a criminal organisation because why the hell _not._

Over the years, Jump didn't have much else to offer. He could always return to Gotham to steal from…well, Wayne Enterprises was always fun to steal from, and Central City proved to be fun that _one_ time he was there, but he liked to stay close to what he knew best.

More specifically _who_ he knew best.

Not that the RedX would admit out loud, but being in the same city as his adoptive older brother brought a sense of security. Nothing in this world could make him admit it though.

Which reminds him - it's Friday.

Also known as 'rob a jewellery store to piss off Dick Grayson and his precious Titans' day.


	5. Do you still believe in one another (1)

**Thank you for reviewing! I really appreciate it!**

 **TO MISS GEEK: Yes, it is leaning towards an Outlaws story. (Thank god my writing isn't too bad that people won't understand what's going on). Though it seemingly is leaning towards being an Outlaws story, new struggles are introduced in this chapter, and it's a little more Titans focused - just a little though hah.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. Teen Titans belong to DC (which totally stands for disappointing comics) and Warner Bros.**

* * *

Chapter 5: Do you still believe in one another? (Part 1)

"Fan mail time, y'all!"

It was a quiet morning for the Titans, and they were thankful for it. They were thankful nothing too bad had happened while most of them (except the two birds, Robin and Raven, they seemed to always rise with the sun) slept in.

By 'nothing too bad', they meant anything that involved too much chaos. Small robberies could be handled by the police, but if Cinderblock came around while they were asleep? Jump city wouldn't last a minute.

Upon the fan mail written by the citizens of Jump ranging from young kindergarteners to hormonal teenagers to (surprisingly) the elderly thanking them for their 'community service'. But one envelope seemed to stick out from the bunch. Dick Grayson picked up the envelope, and hoped that it wasn't from who he thought it was.

It's fairly safe to say that luck wasn't on his side.

On the envelope was the Gotham post stamp featuring the original Dynamic Duo. He had always been flattered but did they really need to use a photo from the time he still wore the green scaly, and arguably, glowing underpants?

Dick's sudden scowl caught the attention of the shapeshifter. "Hey...Dick? You okay there, bud?"

Dick didn't stir. "Dick?" Garfield tried poking him, but that didn't wake him from his deep thoughts. Garfield then caught the post stamp on the envelope. He let out a quiet 'oh' and retreated to Kori's side.

Dick starred longingly at the envelope, internally conflicted on what to do next. He left Gotham after a fight with Bruce, though it wasn't the reason why he left, but he never apologised to Bruce and had never contacted him. To be perfectly fair, Bruce didn't contact him unless it was anything serious…like what had happened to Jason. They've only seen each other once, and that was at his adoptive brother's funeral.

So why now? After, approximately, 2 years?

He left the common room without a word, and sat down at his desk.

Back at the common room all four Titans looked at where their leader had disappeared to with raised eyebrows and confused faces.

"Uhhhh...did the fans break Robin?" Said Victor, while keeping his robotic eye on the eggs.

"Worse. It was from Gotham." Replied Gar, who for once didn't wolf down - aka. literally changing into a wolf to eat breakfast, can't believe how extra this guy is - his breakfast.

Kori stared at the empty hallway with worry. "This 'Gotham' was where Richard hails from, correct?"

Victor nodded, and passed a plate of bacon to Raven. "Oh yeah, Batman has a new Robin now. Probably wrote to tell him about it." He said, trying to lighten up the mood. Raven finished her plate of food quickly and tidily and rose from the breakfast table. "I'll check on him." With that, she left the common room and headed towards Dick's bedroom.

"Do you think it's anything serious?" Garfield asked. After all, after Jason Todd's death, the young superhero community had increased concentration, trained harder than before. Death hit too close to home.

"I hope not." replied Victor, "Dick can't take another heartbreak. Not after last time."

Kori didn't know Jason Todd personally, but she had known _of_ him from Dick's stories about where Robin had originated from. She knew that Jason Todd made Batman smile from time to time, and made Dick's life more complicated, but in a good way. They were brothers, and though they fought almost all the time, they still had their sweet moments. She wished she had known him though, he seemed to be a fun person to be around.

* * *

 _Dear Richard,_

 _I hope this letter finds you well, it has been a while, hasn't it? I see you on the news every few months, and I'm proud of what you have established in Jump City. Alfred says that you've grown skinnier, and worries over your diet. He also says that you shouldn't live off pizza, though I'm not sure how he knows that specifically, I hope you are living a healthy and happy lifestyle in Jump._

 _I understand why you decided to leave, and I congratulate you for finding yourself new friends and family, and effectively establishing a team to keep Jump City out of reach from those who desire to cause harm to it._

 _Anyway, for the past two years I have reflected upon my actions and have come to realisation that I should have written to you, or contacted you earlier. I know you are capable of taking care of yourself, but sometimes I worry for you (especially that time you worked for Slade, and I had to find out through the media). Just know that if you have any problems, you can always contact me for advice. You may not be my 'sidekick' anymore, but you are still my son, and Alfred's grandson._

 _Speaking of family, I trust that you have been notified that a new member had joined our family. I made a mistake last time by refusing to contact you, and that has lead me onto a dark path, so to made amends, I hope you can return to Gotham for a short period of time to meet your newest family member. He looks up to you and Jason, it would be his honour to meet his predecessor in person._

 _I understand that you are busy, and have started a life at Jump, however, I do not wish to shut you out. You made your choice and left the nest, but please remember that you are always welcome to return._

 _Regards,_

 _Bruce Wayne_

"So…you're going back to Gotham?"

"I'm going to meet up with Wally and Roy first." said the first boy wonder, already packing his bag, "I be gone for a week at least, two weeks at most."

"And you're leaving…now?" The empath placed the letter back on her friend's table, eyeing the suitcases, slightly worried about his hasty decision.

"Tomorrow."

Raven let out a sigh of relief. His brain is still functioning, good.

"Rae, you know I can feel you judging, right?" said Dick with a smug look plastered on his face. Raven simply rolled her eyes and walked out the room, but not before reminding him to explain _everything_ to his teammates.

* * *

Garfield realised that Dick wasn't the only one acting all weird. In fact, Vic had been acting weird the whole week, but he couldn't put his finger on what. At first, he thought the tower had run out of meat, or just any sort of food. He was proven wrong by Raven who opened all the cupboards at once to show him that 'it's still not time for grocery shopping, BB'. He then thought that maybe the Titans hadn't paid their electrical bill and the government was slowly taking away their power, which meant that Vic couldn't be 100% charged. He was also wrong about that. He had to deal with a frustrated Dick Grayson for his false assumptions.

It was not until Victor called him to his room that afternoon.

"What's up, Cy?" said Garfield, trying really hard not to let his eyes wander around Vic's room.

"If you think I haven't noticed you glancing at me weirdly then proceeding to tear the tower apart, then you're an idiot." said the older teen with a serious expression. Garfield didn't dare lift his head to meet his best friend's eyes. He had no reason to doubt him for anything, but in his defence, Vic was acting weird as hell.

"Look, I know you mean well, which is why I'm going to tell you whats up." with those words, Garfield's ears perked up, there was even this slight glow in his eyes. Victor sighed, "All right, but you promise you won't run your mouth to the rest of the team?"

Beast Boy nodded too hard, too quickly, which lead him to see stars around Cyborg's robotic eye.

"A week or so ago I received this encrypted message, so I decrypted it without breaking a sweat thinking that it was just someone messing around. But then I realised that the only people, or person for that matter, who would know how to encrypt something like that would be the Justice League, or you know…Batman. I read the message, and I think the Justice League is inviting me to join them."

Garfield blinked. "I'm sorry, you lost me at 'Batman'"

"They want me in the League."

Garfield blinked again. Vic swore he could hear crickets chirping due to the lack of response from his friend (but then again, it could just be Beast Boy making those sound effects)

Approximately a minute later, Garfield screeched at the top of his voice.

"WHAT? AND YOU DIDN'T THINK TO TELL US?"

"BB! QUIET DOWN." Victor gritted through his teeth.

"THIS IS BIG NEWS"

"HUSH!" He tried to put his hand over Gar's mouth, but the boy squirmed too much.

"WHY?" Garfield asked, this time, more quietly.

"Because I tried to track whether the rest of you got the message as well, but none of you did. Not even Robin!" Vic pulled up his attempted tracking of more encrypted messages.

"Well, the dude _did_ ask for some alone time from the Big B." replied Garfield casually. Victor raised his human eyebrow, "You know. Batman. The Big B. The Dark Knight. The Caped Crusa-"

"All right, that's enough aliases."

"What if it's a prank?"

"It's too high tech to be a prank."

"What if it was an elaborate one?" said the younger Titan, while nudging his friend.

"Garfield, it's not a prank. The League is waiting for my reply. They haven't given me a time limit, but I assume they want a response as fast as possible." sighed the older teen.

"So…what are you gonna choose?" asked Garfield, voice cracking just a little. Not enough for Vic to notice though.

There was a silence, followed by a quiet "I'm not sure yet."

* * *

Dick was on his phone, going through his camera roll before being flicked on the forehead. "I got here as fast as I can, dickhead." A smirking Roy Harper with a baseball cap and sunglasses stood before the Boy Wonder "Bumblebee wasn't too fond of me leaving on such short notice, _and_ taking her transportation."

"Always a pleasure seeing you, Harper."

"So, where's the speedster?" asked Roy. Right on cue, a flash of red and yellow rushed past them, making both heroes lose their balance for a bit, before the empty space beside them was filled by a certain green eyed teen.

"So, what's the emergency? We finally starting a boy band with Aqualad?" Wally West teased as he leaned onto Roy for support. "Dudes, seriously. I didn't run from Steel, then back to Central, stay for two weeks, and then to Jump for you two to stare back at me blankly."

"Let's get a place to eat first," suggested Dick, "bet you're starving, KF."

"Babe, you know me so well."

Dick rolled his eyes and pushed Wally off balance as Roy snickered, "You're, Boy Blunder. You're the adopted billionaire here."

During their search for a place to eat, they let go of their worries and became normal teenagers for once. It had been a long time since the trio hung out with such carefree attitudes. After finding the right restaurant and watching Wally devour everything in sight, they began the serious talks.

"I'm going after Ollie. Then to all the gangs his damned company sold my stuff to, and Dick, don't even try to tell me that you'll handle it. This is my responsibility, and my stuff. I'll take care of it."

"He's got a point, Dick." said Wally, "it's kinda like a personal thing."

"Roy," Dick started, "there has to be an easier way though-"

"My decision is final. Don't cover my ass for me, I know what I'm getting into, dickie-bird." this earned a sigh from said bird.

"Plus, Aqualad, though I think he wants to go by Tempest now, anyway, he's gonna back me up if I need help."

"Aquadude? Wow, I'm generally shocked by that. Thought he was the Dad Friend™" said the speedster, shoving 5 fries in his mouth, "what about Bumblebee? What does she think?"

"I think she'll understand. Hopefully she won't take my head off" laughed the archer.

"Yeah, but going alone? I can accompany you to Starling City if you want." said Dick, still mulling multiple options over in his head.

"I'm gonna be fine, Dick. I'm older than you, anyway."

"Not mentally though" said the bat-kid smugly.

"You suck, Dick."

"Need a lift to Star City, Roy?" offered Wally with his face stuffed.

"On your back? Thanks but no thanks, Kid."

"You know we're the same age right, Harper?"

"Swallow before you talk, West."

Dick sighed, "why do I hang out with you guys." He then proceeded to thunk his head onto the table.

"Grayson, your hair gel is crap, by the way."

"Shut up, Roy."

For the remainder of the afternoon, Dick told his best friends about Batman requesting him to return to Gotham. The two redheads shared the same look of a raised eyebrow and a shrug.

"I'm not too surprised, I mean, Barry can barely live without bothering me, I don't see why Bruce is any different."

"Yeah, but he's Bruce. He's _the_ Batman, who works alone and lurks in the shadows and shit like that"

"You right. But despite everything, he's still kinda your dad, Dick. He probably misses you too much. It's been like two years, bro." Wally put his arm around Dick, as an attempt to comfort his friend. "You are going back right?"

Dick nodded, "If I don't there's a 99% chance Alfred will drag my ass back to Gotham anyway, so I'm leaving tomorrow."

"Have you mailed back to Bats yet?" asked Roy.

"Don't think I'll need to." said the acrobat, Bruce did mention that Dick could return anytime he wanted to. "Plus, we're always too lazy to buy that post stamps or envelopes and stuff."

The three called it a day and retreated to the Titans Tower. Roy and Wally had decided to stay for the night. Dick had also asked Wally for a favour - to work with the Titans West while he was gone. The Flash had been fine with that, so Wally stayed and did his friend a favour. Roy said that he might have a lead on who the hell is selling his RoyBots in Jump, and requested Raven to help him when needed.

After the group of friends had dinner, Starfire had to patrol the city. Everyone bid each other goodnight as the alien princess headed out.


	6. Do you still believe in one another (2)

**Once again, thank you for those who've read, faved, followed and reviewed! I may stop updating for a while due to final exams, but fingers crossed that I will update as frequent as I am now.**

 **TO Miss geek : Thank you! Red Hood and the Outlaws are becoming more popular nowadays, I reckon it's the (aesthetic) redesign of Jason Todd and the art style.**

 **TO boyblunder: Thank you so much! I have to admit, I haven't been proofreading, thanks for pointing that out!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. Teen Titans belong to DC (which totally stands for disappointing comics) and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 _Chapter 6: Do you still believe in one another? (Part 2)_

Fighting over an overly underdeveloped, but still pretty damn amazing, piece of technology wasn't a good idea.

Fighting over the same piece of technology on your own against an entire gang of misfits probably wasn't the best idea either.

Oh, and let's not forget the Titan from Steel City that's also fighting over that technology, honestly RedX just decided to come out to have a good time, it's very heartbreaking how people just don't give you a break whatsoever.

It's not like he truly needed the tech. It just seemed interesting, and it's unique design intrigued the thief/occasional anti-hero.

The criminal underworld had been betting on which gang was able to purchase the most from Queen Industries, so X _had_ to check it out.

Seeing Speedy - or at least he thinks it's Speedy, his suit changed a lot - was unexpected. Jump and Steel were pretty far apart, and though Speedy was a Titan, his city was on the EAST of America. Not here in the West.

But none of that mattered. Because both boys wearing red were hiding behind crates.

"Shit." RedX looked toward his left, where Speedy was restringing his bow. "Out of arrows."

"Don't you have backup bows, Speedy?" Another bullet shot through the crates between the boys.

"That one's out of arrows too." Replied the archer. "And its RED ARROW" he hissed.

RedX furrowed his eyebrows under his mask, he was sure that his temporary ally was Speedy. He sighed as he adjusted his gadgets - there were a lot of gadgets on the suit. He took out his backup gun loaded with xenothium bullets that exploded on impact, and tossed it over to the Titan.

"Don't break it." He ordered.

Speedy raised an eyebrow behind his domino mask, but soon shrugged it off.

They then returned to the battle against about...half the gang? Hopefully just half the gang, because they were not able to hold much longer.

RedX was surprisingly merciful, he shattered a few bones at the very most, but it was hard to control one's strength when such amounts of adrenaline were racing down his veins. Speedy - or Red Arrow for the moment - was less kind. X supposes that his more aggressive fighting style was only to not have anyone make connotations with his...other alter ego, Speedy.

He was doing a terrible job, by the way. After roughly ten minutes give or take because who the hell cares anyway, Red Arrow gathered the abandoned or forcefully taken RoyBots and placed them in a duffel bag.

The gang had either left bleeding (internally AND externally) or had to drag their asses out due to their fractured feet and legs. Or they just lied unconscious on the floor. X made a mental note that he needed to know more about this particular gang if they bragged about being able to buy from Queen Industries.

It was then when X realised Speedy was leaving. "What's your hurry?" He teleported himself towards the exit of the warehouse, effectively stopping Speedy.

"Move, X." Speedy practically growled. "I'm not gonna tell Robin, I'm just gonna take these, dispose them, and return to Steel, okay?"

"I'm not concerned about Robin, kid. I'm concerned about you, Harper."

"Wait how did you-"

"Well, honestly I'm not concerned about anyone other than myself. By the way, you know, just because you changed from using Speedy to Red Arrow, people are still gonna know it's you."

"Who are-"

"I mean, it's a cheap rip off of Green Arrow. You just replaced the first word with another colour, and it's _my_ colour."

Speedy raised an eyebrow. Robin wasn't particularly fond of RedX but he seemed harmless enough to hang out with.

"Didn't know we could own colours now."

"Oh? Tell that to the Bat of Gotham. He practically owns the colour black."

"Look, RedX." Started the Titan, "I came out here to get back what was mine. Now that I'm done, I'm gonna head back. Thanks for the help though."

X scoffed. "Me? Help you?" Speedy rolled his eyes. "I only help myself." Stated the thief, a dangerous tone could be noted in his voice, "which means I share half the profit. So hand it over."

"X, I don't want to hurt you. I'm tired, you're bleeding. Please just let me go home."

"I know we just took on a lot of guys, but I can still take you." Challenged X, who didn't seem to notice a certain speedster circling the area.

"Maybe some other time." And with that, the archer vanished with a Flash of red and yellow.

"Should've known." X grunted, "They're besties after all."

So what he didn't get half the profit? He could potentially just break into the Titans East tower to get them back if he was _that_ desperate - in which he wasn't.

He could just steal from Queen Industries directly. Screw trying to lay low, it wasn't his style anyway.

He hauled himself up buildings with his grappling gun that resembled Robin's personal grappling gun, but just of another shade of colour. Each time he swung, his ribs burned and his right leg would bend a little weirdly.

He expected injuries. It was part of the job.

So was meeting Titans. But perhaps, not two separate Titans on the same day.

* * *

Patrol wasn't as bad as Beast Boy tended to think it was. To Starfire, it was a way to clear her head. With the power of flight, she was able to ascend to great heights and admire the city from above.

It was so different compared to Tamaran. Back at home, on the planet far away, their lights were warm and welcoming...until her kingdom was overthrown, and she was taken prisoner and traded to be a slave to suffer and...

Starfire shook her head. She didn't have the means to go on. She didn't want to remember.

She refocused on the city below her feet. The lights here at Jump shone and flickered in the dark of the night was intriguing and dangerous at the same time.

Something in the darkness caught the Titan's eye. A figure sprinting from rooftop to rooftop, occasionally tripping and stopping to take a break. She flew closer to the figure, starbolts at the ready.

To her dismay, it was RedX. She did _not_ want to deal with him today. But she had to stop whatever he was plotting. She swooped down and quickly grabbed X by his suit, and flew upwards once more, giving him nowhere to go.

"Jesus Christ, woman! Put me down!" He yelled, reaching for his belt.

"You will not do harm to this city!" she roared, a starbolt growing in her free hand and her eyes glowing dangerously. The scowl on her face meant business.

"Starfire, _please!_ "

It was only then when the Titan realised that RedX was badly injured. She could _smell_ the iron from his blood. She could even see it slowly seeping through the suit, and staining it. The fresh colour of red was sprawled on her knuckles as well. Deciding that she should make life easier for him today, Starfire gently lowered down to a rooftop, and releasing X at once. X leaned on the edge and panted, occasionally wheezing in pain.

"X'hal…" she muttered under her breath, a little surprised someone as slick as RedX was able to get hurt so badly. "Do you require assistance?"

"Nope, I'm fine. Go back to patrol, or just back to your damned tower." he said, barely audible.

"I'm sure Robin would not mind if you used our wing of the hospital." offered Starfire, feeling a little guilty about jumping to conclusions. She may have made his injuries worse, and though she was not too fond of RedX, he wasn't a chaotic man trying to rule the world. He was more of a royal zorrgnarg in the grebnacks. **(translation: royal pain in the ass)**

"Don't need your help, Starfire." he said as he limped towards another building, he took out his grappling gun. "Shit." he cursed, as his arm fell limp.

Starfire watched half amusedly and half worrying. She supposed she could always call the police to capture him at his most vulnerable moment.

"I bet you're enjoying this." he growled through the mask.

"I must admit, it is a little interesting."

X finally found his strength again, and shot his gun to the top of the next building. As he swung through the air, he could see Starfire following suit from the corner of his mask. He sighed and hauled himself up, only to see Starfire already on the rooftop waiting.

"Look, I'm not going to steal anything tonight, I just need to get home."

"I am offering my assistance."

"Don't need it. Just need you to fuck off, lady."

Starfire's slight smirk fell. It seemed that no one needed her help in this city. She was nothing but a burden. An _alien_ burden.

"Didn't know that all it took to tear you down was just a bad word." teased X.

Starfire unconsciously crossed her arms and rubbed them.

 _She's insecure._ Figured X, _what the hell did Dick do now?_

"Look, princess. I'm on a tight schedule here, so I'm going to go." he said, once again limping to the other side of the building.

"X…" she started, X sighed and turned towards her, "do you think I am no use to the Titans?"

"You can't tell, but I'm raising my eyebrows under this mask" he replied. Starfire had the word _anxious_ written all over her. He remembered the time when people had their doubts about him. How the new Robin just couldn't do the job right. He let out a groan of pain, and opened his mouth "look, as long as your intentions are good, you're good enough for the team, okay?"

"But I am nothing but a walking nuclear reactor, am I not?"

"You're dangerous, I'll give you that. But you also have kindness, compassion, and you care way too much for your own good. You're a walking nuclear reactor because you were born that way." he said, "You're a good Titan. You and your friends are a pain in the ass, but at least you guys get the job done."

Starfire didn't understand why she decided to ask him such personal questions, but she was glad she did. Though she didn't understand why he didn't tell her to 'fuck off' again, she was happy that even the most selfish people could have good hearts.

"You know, X. You're a good man. I think that you have a lot of anger in you, Raven always says that you feel angry all hours of an earth day, but I do not think that anger belongs there." X looked at her suspiciously - could she have known?

No way, he hasn't even met her as Jason Todd. She couldn't have figured it out.

"From what you say, I am supposed to have these destructive powers, but you? Yours do not belong there. If you keep all that anger inside of you? Your heart fuelled by rage? It will consume you."

X didn't know what to think. Sure, he was kind of bleeding out halfway to his apartment in Jump, but the things she said…it almost seemed like she made the bleeding stop.

"Um…thanks." With that, he aimed his grappling gun at the next building, and swung away. This time, the Titan didn't follow behind.

X, ran over what she said in his head. She was looking for comfort from someone, and yet he was the one receiving it. He guessed that sometimes we don't choose our teachers in life, sometimes they were crazed vigilantes dressed like a bat pretending to love a son, and birds who obsessed over the finest details, and other times they take form of a space princess who is smarter than anyone gives her credit for.

* * *

Garfield's ears perked up when he heard the sound of a door slide.

 _Good. He wasn't the only one having an issue falling asleep._

The silent movements of the individual leaving the room must be Raven, she was the only one with footsteps so light you could barely acknowledge it. Thankfully for Garfield, his senses were heightened due to his animalistic abilities. He crawled out of bed, and put on a hoodie over his t-shirt, and opened his door, only to catch a glimpse of Raven's hood.

He trailed behind her, wondering what Raven was doing. It wasn't abnormal for Raven to wake up in the middle of the night to get some tea, but she only did it when she was extremely troubled. That was what worried Beast Boy. He already knew Starfire was upset - it wasn't hard to tell - and Cyborg was torn between the Teen Titans and the Justice League. Robin suddenly had to return to Gotham, and though it was a good thing his mentor contacted him, but the brash decision Robin made concerned him.

Raven however, was extremely hard to read. Despite being teammates for so long, he still had difficulty telling her emotions apart.

He found her brewing some herbal tea, as usual, and opening the fridge for some food.

"I'm assuming this is why Vic was concerned about our junk-food intake?" he teased. Raven didn't flinch. She must've sensed him when he followed her out.

"Morning, Gar."

"I'd hardly call it 'morning'" grumbled the changeling, glaring at the clock showing the time to be 03:20 am.

"You're incredibly tense. Mind telling me what's wrong?" she said with a raised eyebrow. Garfield tilted his head sideways like a lost puppy, so Raven explained, "I've miraculously become the team's expert psychologist, I'm sure you've noticed how everyone on the team is suddenly stressed."

"To be perfectly fair, Rae, we've always been stressed." said Garfield, taking a seat on the couch. Raven picked up the newly brewed tea, poured it into her personal mug - the one Dick gave her that said 'Keep Calm and Azarath Metrion Zinthos" - and went to take a seat next to her teammate. "You have noticed the change of atmosphere, right?"

Garfield sighed, and nodded. "Raven?" he earned a hum from the empath, "I know you don't do this kind of talk, but…I'm scared." his head dropped as soon as those words fell from his lips and he clasped his hands together, "Dick might return to Gotham…and if that happens, we're not going to be _the_ Teen Titans, anymore. It's just…Teen Titans minus Robin."

Raven sat her cup down on the table. "I'm scared too." she admitted, her words hung silently in the air. Garfield looked over to her, noticing how her hair seemed more hue than normal, and the way her shoulders slumped just made his heart break a little.

"If we were to break up this team...I wouldn't know where to go. I have no other place on Earth, and Azarath is destroyed..."

The mug on the table stared vibrating. Garfield quickly, but gently, put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. No matter what happens I'm sure we can work it out. We're the Teen Titans, right?" Raven gave him a small smile. "Plus, Star would let Dick abandon us without frying his ass first, amiright?"

Raven's furrowed eyebrows relaxed. "You're a good friend, Gar," Garfield beamed at her, "when you're not being a complete dumbass." his smile didn't falter, instead he stuck out his tongue at her, reminding the girl of a whiny five year old brat.

"You're right Gar. We're just going to have to believe in one another."


	7. Do you still believe in love

**A/N: This is a _really_ long chapter. I apologise for that. Exams are approaching but I was just _aching to keep writing!_ I kind of...put a lot of stuff in this once chapter, in attempt to cover the domestic side of things and the ass-kicking side of things. Ended up with 3000+ words. Sorry guys. I know I went overboard. **

**Anyways, thank you to those who read/faved/followed/reviewed, I really appreciate it! Here's the next chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. Teen Titans belong to DC (which totally stands for disappointing comics) and Warner Bros.**

* * *

Dick was surprised that Raven wasn't already up. However, he was surprised to find an annoyed Cyborg unwillingly accompanying a speedster in rampaging through their fridge. He silently moved towards the mug holders and took his mug - the one Raven gifted him in return with the words 'the dick' and an arrow pointing upwards, and 'the legend' with an arrow pointing downwards - and patiently waited for the coffee to fill his mug.

Wally _finally_ finished getting all he needed for breakfast after 6 minutes. Dick was already halfway through his coffee and his friend still hadn't had breakfast yet.

"Want anything, Dickiebird?" teased the speedster.

"No." was the immediate reply. Dick didn't even lift his head from the newspaper and he could feel his friend pouting. "Stop pouting or your bottom lip will fall out."

"Is he always like that?" whispered Wally to Victor, who was smirking at their more-motherly-than-brotherly relationship.

"He's gotten better after he showed us his beautiful shade of blue eyes." said Victor, taking a few eggs from Wally and preparing the ingredients for an omelet.

Wally gasped and nodded furiously, "I KNOW RIGHT? THE GUY HAS _THE_ MOST BEAUTIFUL SHADE OF BLUE IN HIS EYES."

The pair fanboyed as their local alien royalty stepped into the room. "What is the commotion at such an early hour?" yawned Kori, behind her was a disgusted Raven practically gagging at Kori's bath robe.

"Kori, if you're gonna wear pink, choose something that's not a fluffy mixture of different types of pink," complained the empath, "it's not even an ombre bathrobe, there's just blots of pink everywhere."

"Rae, we could say the same with you and darker shades" said Dick, with his head titled to the side.

"I'd like to see you complain about different shades of black, boy blunder."

"Rae, you look like shit." commented said boy blunder, "trouble sleeping?"

Kori immediantly rose to defend her friend, "Friend Richard, you must not speak to a lady in such manner! It is most unkind to refer to someone's appearance as 'the shit'!"

That sent Wally howling, "oh my god, does this happen daily? I love this place!"

"Why. Is. Everyone. Up. So. Early." Beast Boy entered the room, growling at his friends in annoyance. "Since when did Kori and Vic start waking up at six in the morning?"

"BB, it's eight thirty. I'm surprised you don't wake up when the sun comes up and change into a rooster to get the rest of our asses out of bed." said Victor, with a deadpanned expression.

Everyone's eyes widened, but after about two seconds, laughter filled the common room.

"Well, this is certainly better to wake up to." said Roy stretching as he made himself known, "back at Steel, Bee and Aqualad just bicker about-"

The room turned scarlet, alarms were going off. On the main screen, videos and images of Plasmus destroying the city. Again.

"Ugh, seriously, can't they just put extra security? Or put him in a coma, and then ice him, and then ice the icing-pod-thing again?" Whined Garfield, who had to drop his delicious tofu for this guy. Do people ever learn? Now he has to reschedule his daily tofu appreciation hour(s).

"All right, Titans. Let's go."

* * *

 _Location: Batcave, Gotham._

Tim Drake watched the first Boy Wonder in awe as he took down one of their regular villains. He aspired to be just as skilful and accomplished as Dick Grayson was, not to mention as brave and dauntless as Jason Todd had been, given that he had died on the line of duty. Tim wasn't sure he'd be up for that. Sure, he was only a thirteen year old kid, but Jason was only about fifteen when he his life was cruelly taken away by the Joker.

Alfred had been training him for a few months now, and though Bruce and Alfred didn't want him patrolling and stopping crime with Batman, he insisted he could help. He did help solve a few crimes, and fight some bad guys, but Alfred firmly believed that Tim needed to go through some intensive training before taking to the streets in Gotham. Which was partially why Bruce wanted to call Dick Grayson back home.

He remembered the first time he saw Dick Grayson. He was elegant, strong and seemingly unbreakable for a 10 year old…Until he witnessed two of the Flying Graysons falling. His late mother had covered his eyes when it happened, but he could recall the screams from the Boy Wonder, and the wailing of the audience.

At the age of 9, Tim saw footage of Robin performing a quadruple somersault while apprehending the Penguin. A rare manoeuvre that _only_ a Flying Grayson could do. He'd figured out everything else rather easily, and followed the dynamic duo closely after his findings. Of course, at the age of 11, he realised there was a new Robin before the rest of Gotham did. He tried to approach this new Robin, but had failed to do so. Before he got to try once more, the Second Boy Wonder was gone from this world. By the time he was 12, he had approached The Batman a couple of times, offering him his help as a Robin. But that stirred up trouble, and a year later, he paid the price. His brash actions cost his parents' lives. He lived but he paid the price.

Tim wiped away his tears and refocused on the screens. The Teen Titans successfully put Plasmus to sleep once again.

"Well, you're up early." said a voice, due to habit, Tim quickly turned off the screens and turned towards his mentor.

"I just…um…my alert-"

"Yeah, I heard." said the billionaire curtly. "I'm sure Dick's going to come home, if that's what's bothering you."

 _Damn, he's good._

"No, I'm just…I don't know if I'll be what he expects me to be." Tim said, trying to keep his composure. He couldn't show weakness over such a small thing when The Batman was speaking to him, how was he supposed to live up to the expectation if he broke down every thirty seconds?

"Don't worry, Tim. I'm sure Dick's going to like having a little brother around." Said Bruce, ruffling Tim's hair affectionally before giving him a small smile. "C'mon, I'm sure Alfred's done with breakfast" Tim smiled softly and nodded, the pair headed upstairs to the mansion, and Tim felt more at peace than he had earlier this morning.

Bruce was aware that Tim was insecure. Not to mention he needed to adjust to a new environment in a very short span of time right after his parents were taken away from him. But he loved him nonetheless. Tim Drake was adopted by Bruce Wayne for a year or so, but Tim Drake had been talking to the Batman for longer. Though that caused a devastating result, Bruce was not going to walk out of Tim's life like he had with Dick's.

He learnt his lesson, and he loves all of his sons. Even the one he can no longer see.

* * *

 _Location: Titans Tower, Jump City_

 _Time: 15:24_

"All right, Grayson. We'll keep our eyes peeled for the news, I'm sure channel 52 would report something about you." winked Victor, patting Dick on the back a little too hard. "After all, the paparazzi _kill_ for a shot of those gorgeous blue eyes."

" _Oh Richard John Grayson, marry me? I'll make your life so very eventful"_ mocked Wally using an extremely high pitched voice that made Raven worry about replacing the windows (again.) (Don't ask.)

"Richard would not fall to the charms of _those_ women!" Kori said, almost immediantly after Wally had shut up.

Garfield fell off the couch, laughing, game consoler discarded. "Don't worry, Star. Dick's more noble than _that._ He won't cheat on you."

The look on Dick's face was _priceless._ Before Dick could snap at Garfield, a white flash went off. Dick looked to his side, Roy was holding his phone in triumph. "Got it." Wally and Roy fist pumped, smirking at the red-faced boy.

"Okay." Dick gritted through his teeth, "I'm going to go now. Goodbye."

Garfield leaped over to Dick and gave him a bone crushing hug, but of course, Kori topped that by wrapping both boys in her arms, lifting their feet off the ground, and spinning them midair. Wally and Roy almost tackled him to the ground and ruffled his hair. A chorus of "I'll miss you", "call when you get there" and such things caused Raven to make her way to the group.

"Stay safe, boy blunder." said Raven, one hand clutching a book and the other reaching for something on the table "Don't make me track you down and drag your sorry ass back to Jump." she said as she handed him his glasses.

"I'll miss you too."

The flight to Gotham wasn't too bad. There was this fight attendant that kept flirting with him though. Other than that, the flight was rather peaceful. Though his heart still hasn't stopped beating against his ribcage like a wild, untamed, uncontrollable beast, the thought of returning to a place he once called home _somehow_ made him calmer.

Bruce had apologised, which was extremely out of character for him, so there's really no need to feel anxious.

Right?

* * *

Kori was the type who moped around when she misses someone. This was no exception. Victor watched as Kori _walked_ towards the couch. Normally she'd float everywhere since flight can only be accomplished when feeling unbridled joy, walking meant that something was wrong.

She was obviously missing the boy wonder. Vic shook his head and joined Kori on the couch.

"He'll be back in no time, Star." he said, in attempt to cheer her up.

"Raven and Beast Boy have spoken to me about his family in the city known as Gotham. I fear that he would not come back." she sniffed, "After all, that is his home and family. Surely friend Richard would like to be with them."

Victor blinked. He had never seen Kori so down and insecure about something. Sure, there were times where she got sad like the time Val-Yor called her racist slurs, but seeing her depressed like this wasn't normal.

"Dick isn't going to forget about us, if that's what you're concerned about, Kori. He has a reason to stay in Jump."

Kori refused to look up, but Victor could tell that there were tears welling in her eyes. "Dick doesn't mention his family frequently, but I know that he thinks tall of them."

"Tall? Oh, right, _highly._ "

Kori sighed.

"Look, Kori. He's going to come back. Not just because he's part of the Titans, it's because-"

The alarms blared, causing everyone in Titans Tower to put a pause to what they were doing.

Wally sped into the room, bumping the couch accidentally. "Shit!" he swore, before he got back on his feet. "All right, first mission without Robin, guys, lets suit up!"

Raven entered the room rolling her eyes. Cyborg stood up from the couch, "Just because you're his best friend, doesn't mean you get to make the calls around here" he said before heading towards the T-Car.

"Right, sorry."

Raven, Speedy and Kid Flash followed Cyborg down to the T-Car as Starfire and Beast Boy headed to the trouble.

The sight before the Titans shocked them. An old enemy, Cheshire, was holding a gang member by his throat atop of a building, threatening to either drop him or poison him with the venom on her nails.

"What the hell." muttered Cyborg, clearly annoyed with the increased crazies nowadays. The man let out a wail of pain that tugged the hearts of everyone present at the scene.

 **"TITANS, GO!"**

Starfire and Beast Boy flew towards Cheshire, attacking offensively. Cheshire's eyes narrowed and dropped the man with a laugh, and vanished into thin air. Her eyes and wicked smile was the last to disappear, causing Beast Boy to shiver.

Raven caught the man before he could reach the ground and handed him to the police

She reappeared beside Cyborg, and clawed at his metallic body. Punches were delivered, and kicks to stomachs were taken. Kid Flash then tried to take her down with the element of surprise, but she vanished again.

Speedy was at a distance, bow and arrow at the ready, if he sees her, he'll shoot without hesitation.

"Well, if it isn't the Green Arrows baby sidekick."

Speedy's eyes widened, turned and released an arrow.

"Too slow, arrow boy" Cheshire winked, before she vanished once more. Speedy grumbled under his breath. "Don't get your panties in a twist, you'll get to take me out next time" she said as she reappeared on the same roof.

She dodged every arrow, even sliced a couple in half. Speedy replaced his normal arrow with his Net-Arrow and took his best shot. Cheshire was caught off guard, her limbs tangled with the net.

"If you wanted to make me yours, you could've just asked." she snarled. Unknown to Speedy, Kid Flash was already on the rooftop, accompanied by the rest of the Titans a few seconds later.

"Why are you here." questioned Raven, her dark magic tying Cheshire down incase she manages to escape again.

"Like I'd tell you." The assassin scoffed. The net started glowing neon blue, the crisp of electricity shocked the Titans, Speedy only raised an eyebrow and let go of the button.

"Talk." he stated, voice hard and merciless.

Cheshire swallowed, "I'm looking for the RedX. His time is up. The League is done waiting for his answer."

"What is this, an invite to some bad guys party?" smirked Kid Flash, in attempt to lighten up the mood.

"Of sorts." she shrugged, "now that I've delivered my message, I'm not going to cause any trouble. So, mind letting me go, babe?"

A chorus of "babe?"s was heard, Speedy groaned motioned Raven to lift the net. Cheshire gave Speedy one last wink before disappearing.

"You just let her _go?_ " asked Cyborg, still processing what he had just witnessed. Speedy sighed and explained how capturing her, or at least, attempting to capture her could lead to more League of Assassins members showing up at Jump. He was sure that without calling in a _lot_ of reinforcements, Jump city would be in ruins by the time Robin returned if they had to face the League of Assassins.

Back at the tower, the Titans rested, but Victor and Raven were up going through files about Cheshire. Roy and Wally were lounging in the common room, updating Garth on their findings about Roy's tech.

Kori gripped onto Silkie tightly, and hugged the baby moth close to her chest. She was physically aching from missing Dick. She probably should tell the team, or at least Raven, about her meeting with X…but then again, what would they think? After speaking with both Raven and the RedX, she felt that she could handle the criticism from citizens. But she couldn't lose her friends.

Perhaps, if she wasn't going to tell them about how X wasn't what they thought he was, she should tell them about the warehouse she blew up a couple days ago…

* * *

 _Location: Gotham_

 _Time: 22:42_

Robin couldn't say that he missed the disgusting smell of crime that Gotham was covered in. Only minutes after leaving the airport and some building blows up.

He was instantly reminded that in Gotham, vigilantes worked 24/7.

He knew he'd see his mentor at the scene, punching whoever started this mess into oblivion on such a _fine_ evening. But he certainly wasn't prepared to see the iconic green and purple villain there.

It seemed that Batman had not arrived yet, for whatever reason. He swooped in without hesitation and kicked the Riddler in the face.

"I see our favourite Boy Wonder has returned home!" he cheered, earning snickers from his henchmen. Seconds later a figure covered the gleaming moon that hung above Gotham City. "Bless Gotham City," the Riddler shouted, "the Bat and Bird dynamic duo has _finally returned"_ he added darkly.

After a series of flipping, kicking and bo staff twirling, a single gunshot went off.

 _Location: Batcave_

 _Time: 23:03_

"I had him on the ropes" Dick growled, removing his mask furiously.

"Sure you did" said Bruce. Alfred was tending to his care, delicately withdrawing the bullet from Bruce's torso. Bruce grunted and squirmed ever so slightly, earning a raised eyebrow from Alfred.

"Surprisingly well made replica of the RIP bullet" said Alfred, putting the bullet under their laser scanner. "Thank heavens your suit sustained most of the damage."

"The hell did they get that?" said Bruce, attempting to sit up, only to be pushed back down by Alfred.

The colour on Dick's face immediantly drained. "You didn't need to do that." he muttered.

"Of course I did," Bruce sighed, "Your suit's not strong enough, and you're always going to be my son-"

"-and yet you fired me, and pushed me away!"

"I was trying to protect you."

"It was one order that I didn't follow, and suddenly I wasn't good enough! When Jay died, I offered closure but you closed yourself off, fighting alone and more deadly than before. You could've _died_ , Bruce. You used to claim that you loved me, that were happy you adopted me, but when I try to reach out to you, but you refuse to accept my every attempt. Sometimes I wonder whether you still feel anything."

Alfred finished up stitching Bruce's wound and excused himself. This was something the father and son needed to sort out themselves, without any interference. As he went up the stairs and through Bruce's grandfather clock, he saw Timothy shaking in fear.

"I prepared the free-range corn-fed chicken goujons, gently fried in extra virgin olive oil for the bats." said Tim meekly. Alfred didn't respond, "With chives, sir" he added. Alfred gave the boy a soft smile and took the food from him.

"Hopefully you didn't set my kitchen on fire, Master Timothy."

Tim smiled a little before peeking into the Batcave.

"Master Bruce and Master Dick are going to need a moment. I believe it is past your bed time anyway, Master Timothy. Don't let me catch you trying to solve more cases in the middle of the night." Tim nodded and quickly retreated back to his room.

Back in the Batcave, Bruce and Dick were still yelling at the top of their lungs.

"You only thought to contact me when Jay _died!_ I could've been there, I could've saved him! You didn't trust me enough and you isolated yourself from the rest of us! Even Babs gave me a call because you pushed her away too!"

"I understand how you feel, now…But know that everything I do, I do because I don't want to see you become like me. I fired you because you were right, I can't make you hide behind my shadow and restrain you from achieving greatness. I pushed you away because I knew you had a stable living in Jump. I'm not selfish enough to take that away from you. I call upon you now because I refuse to relive my mistakes, Dick. Red Robin, Tim Drake, he looks up to you, and he deserves your acknowledgement."

Bruce was hurting. Not that he'd admit it. Seeing your kid blow up at you like this was bound to do something to your soul. The worst part was how absolutely right Dick was. He tried to give him independence, but in reality it wasn't independence - it was isolationism.

He never got the chance to say that he loved Dick before he grabbed his belongings and left during the dead of night. But Dick was back now, even if he wanted to shout at him, Bruce would let him.

He deserved it anyway.


	8. Falling down for you

**A/N: Thank you to those who read/faved/followed/reviewed, I really appreciate your support! I'm sorry if this story feels a little slow, I didn't want to rush into things unexplained, leading to a lot of this backstory and setting up, but I promise it's for a reason! Anyway, on with the next chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. Teen Titans belong to DC (which totally stands for disappointing comics) and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 _Location: Wayne Manor, Gotham_

 _Time: 09:39am_

"Master Dick, your breakfast is already cold, please do not make me forcefully remove you from the bed."

Dick whines and covers his head with his pillow, smiling into it under his blankets. He missed this. He missed Alfred's sighs and attempts to get his out of bed. Back at the Tower, he was also the first to be up…but here, he need not worry about the city getting blown into a million pieces. Here he can sleep peacefully.

Alfred sighs and shakes his head. Honestly, the boy was nineteen and yet he stills acts like the child Master Bruce took in eleven years ago. He reaches for the blankets and yanks them off in one smooth, practiced motion. Dick hisses and curls up into a fetus position. "Master Dick." Alfred says, a small smile evident on his face. Dick gives up and assures Alfred that he'll be down in ten.

Tim watches them interact from the doorway. It was weird seeing Robin of the Teen Titans acting so much like a child…he was also the voice of reason, and refused to drop seriousness. He concludes that it's nice seeing the leader of the Teen Titans smile once in a while. He retreats to his room when Alfred makes his way out Dick's room, and closes the door behind him with a soft sigh.

A picture on his wall shifts.

Tim turns his head to see a an old picture of the RedX. He smirks remembering that he once tried to solve who the RedX was, but came up with no real solutions. He picks up the picture and shoves it in his pocket, perhaps he could conjure a conversation with the acrobat later, given that he didn't really know _what_ to say to him.

And then he hears raised voices.

"Bruce, you can't keep him in the dark forever!"

"I'm not letting you take him on a walk on _rooftops_. Dick, you haven't even seen him on the field!"

"So now's his chance!"

"If you want to bond, thats fine. Keep it in the cave, I want you to train him but not like this." Bruce says, massaging his temples out of habit. Dick huffs and puts his empty plate into the sink.

"He has to fly out of your nest one day, Bruce."

Alfred wasn't kidding when he said Dick and Bruce weren't on friendly terms. If only they told him _why_ he left-

A knock on his door caused his trial of thought to cease, he opens the door to see a sheepish Dick Grayson. "Sorry about that shouting," he says, "it's too early in the morning for that."

Tim smiled politely and mumbled a "it's okay"

Dick seem to have caught his nervous demeanour, the older boy reached his hand out to him "Dick Grayson" he says, a proud smile on his face. Tim swore that the room brightened and the sun shined a little brighter.

"Tim Drake." he replies, taking Dick's hand.

"Hey, how's about messing on the Bat Computer in the cave?" said the Titans with a slight smirk and playful eyebrow raised. Tim nodded and followed Dick down. Halfway there, his picture of the RedX slowly makes it's way out of Tim's pocket, as if screaming for attention. Dick catches the picture sticking out Tim's pocket.

"You a fan of X?" he asks.

Tim's eyes widened and immediantly reaches to place the picture back in his pocket. Damn this jacket and it's overly small pockets. Must be how women feel about jeans…

"No it's okay, I'm not judging." Dick says with a laugh, "sure, I've fought hand to hand with the guy, but he's not exactly much trouble."

"When you and the Titans fought X, I wanted to help." Tim confesses, "Of course, I wasn't as good as the rest of you, and I had just started training…but that didn't mean I couldn't help from the sidelines. I'm good with computers, technology and that stuff. I solved a couple cases with Bruce when I first came…It was a way to clear my mind."

Dick's eyebrow raises, clearly impressed with the kid.

"As for X, I scanned a lot of security cameras, compared a lot of data and stuff to find people with fighting styles similar to X." Tim continues, "Hacked into a lot of files, though some were unsuccessful, Bruce said it was good for training anyway. I know I've got to excel on fighting, but I just get the hang of technology…heh…I'm rambling aren't I?"

Dick has that same proud smile on his face and shakes his head. "Not at all," he says, patting Tim on the shoulder, "I'd actually like to see some of your research. Maybe I've been looking at this case from the wrong angle. A new perspective never hurts!"

Tim sighs in relief, and enthusiastically turns on the computer, logs into his data and pulls up all his research on the thief clad in red, black and white. Dick rests his arm on top of the chair that looked twice as big now that a small thirteen year old sat in it.

Tim clicks on the first file - a video of one of RedX's heists before the Titans got involved. Before playing it, Tim says "I promise I'm not crazy." which causes Dick to knit his eyebrows together and tilt his head slightly to the side.

Tim plays the video. A simple white room, no doubt with traps linked up to everything, was on the screen, X teleports to the entrance of the concealed room. A light starts flashing, and X rolls his shoulders and without missing a beat, he jumps and ducks the lasers shooting at him. The high-tech motion sensor cam picks it up and follow's X's every move. At the same time, a metal wall rises behind the lasers, X's shoulders sag. Thanks to his gadgets that Dick (regrettably) supplied him with, he throws a xenothium composed knife and takes out the laser guns. He then gracefully flips a 180º over the wall, his knees tucked behind him and landing on his two feet. Dick can tell he's smirking as he gives a two finger salute to the camera.

"He does that in twelve seconds flat." Tim comments.

X takes what he's there for - some nano technology Dick assumes - and takes out the grappling gun, using the vents to escape.

"You know who else can do all that in twelve seconds flat?" Tim asks, looking up at Dick. Dick simply shrugs, a little amazed that X was _that_ good. He knew X was skilled in thievery and combat, it's just been too long since X pulled a serious heist.

A video of the late Jason Todd comes onto the screen. Dick's heart clenches as Tim plays the video. The dynamic duo were taking down Two-Face, and then bullets start shooting. Dick noticed that the layout was similar to the video before. RedX and Jay were both on one side, lasers in the middle back, a prize at the very back (however, this time it was Two-Face) and a wall rising form the ground. Batman swiftly shoots his grappling gun to the air and the man in black disappears from the scene. Jason rolls his shoulders before taking out a handful of birdarangs and throwing them at the henchmen, similar to what X did before. Once the men were down, Jason speeds through the line of fallen men and flips over the wall, kick's Dent in the chest and lands beside him.

Tim stops the video. "Twelve seconds and twenty six milliseconds." he declares, "but thats not all." He says. He rewinds to when RedX and Jason flip over the wall and plays them side by side simultaneously. Dick's eyes widen. "It's exactly the same pace, posture and technique, except at different heights." Tim says, "I bet that's because the RedX suit is heavier or because Jason put on some weight."

"Wait, wait, wait," Dick says, "how did you even link X with Jason?"

Tim shrugged, "I had to go through a lot of footage of Robins fighting on the field." he says, "Plus, I was attempting to figure out the identities of Batman and Robin at the time…RedX's fighting style seemed familiar. Though, that's not a very believable argument, so I ran a lot of scans on Jason and RedX as well as try to find other possible candidates such as Grant Wilson, who I was almost convinced to be RedX, but he soon became the Ravager so…he's off the list. I also researched a lot of females of X's body type and style, just incase it was someone trying to throw people off by hiding behind a different gender. At one point I even thought RedX could be the Ghost Fox Killer…but as far as X as been active, the RedX hasn't killed anyone, whereas GFK has. Plus, she operates in Hong Kong…so that's a no."

"What makes you so sure that X is actually…Jay?"

"I know it sounds a little insane-"

"A lot insane."

"But I have legitimate proof." A lot more data opened up on the screen. "Before Jason Todd passed away, these were his last checked in vitals, height, weight and so on 2 days before his death. I designed a program to estimate physical human development…at first it was to figure out who _you_ are, but I redesigned it and updated it with the latest tech and applied it on Jason.

"Here is a full body scan of Jason Todd, two days before the incident. When I insert the data into the program, it estimates what he'll look like in the future. It's not all that accurate, but it's accurate enough." Tim says, he then clicks on a file of the latest footage of the RedX. "This is X a month ago, when he came by Gotham." Tim let the computer analyse the two bodies as Dick watched, amazed at everything the kid has found out about X. Sure, his claims were a little hard to believe, but this was a lot more in depth than what Dick had been doing. He'd been trying to figure out where X will strike next or where his hideouts were in order to slim down the list of people that could be him. Of course he ran thousands, even millions of analysis on body similarities, but it as more or less a dead end.

The computer beeped cuing the end of the analysis.

 _98.9%_

"That's a very high percentage for a program a thirteen year old developed." Dick praised.

"Thanks." Tim said, nearly emotionless as he was absorbed in his findings. "If he didn't die and continued the workout routines, his muscles would have built up like this. See here, how the shoulders just widened instead of changing? I mean, sure it could've just been the uniforms, but that highly doubtable considering both suits are skin tight." Tim glanced at Dick for confirmation, Dick nodded. "And then here, his arms, the bone structure are more or less the same, just that they grew a little longer."

Dick couldn't believe that his new adoptive brother was successfully persuading him that the RedX was actually his late adoptive brother.

"Oh, and I've analysed how X and Jason both handle fights." Tim said, "When I was younger, I did a lot of digging before concluding that Bruce Wayne was Batman, and Jason Todd was Robin - well the new Robin. But I found that whenever Jason was annoyed, his left hand would clench, and yes, it is common for hand clenching to occur, but then I noticed the same thing in X. Whenever the Teen Titans caught him or tried to hand him over to the police, his left hand would clench. So I calculated the average time it takes Jason to clench his fists and it's exactly 4.8 seconds, which is also the amount of time it takes X to do so."

Dick's eyes widen in disbelief. He'd lived with Jason, seen him do that hand clenching thing when he pissed him off countless times, and had done the same thing with X.

"I realise this isn't a very strong argument, but look at how their heads tilt." Tim said, pulling up multiple footages of X and Jason with a side view. "It's essentially the same angle of head tilting! Which I found, was different for everyone and exceptionally rare for the two different people, even if they were identical twins, to cock their heads at the same angle."

Dick closed his eyes and let everything sink in.

"So, you're saying that…Jason…came back to life?" Dick said, his head dropped, sadness glazed in his eyes.

Tim's hands left the keyboard immediantly, he slowly put his hands together on his lap. "Its…a possibility." he starts, "I mean…how many heroes actually die and stay dead? There's always something that keeps them from dying entirely…there's always a backup plan, a fake death or some scheme villains came up with…right?"

"What sucks is…it only applies to the heroes…" Tim said, Dick noticed that he curled himself on the chair, his head propped on his knees. "It's only a small…a small possibility."

Dick knew Tim was thirteen, but all he could see was an eight year old boy looking up the Gotham's heroes of the night. He's proud that both he and Jason could leave a legacy for kids to look up to.

"Have you told Bruce?"

Tim sniffs, rubs his eyes and shakes his head.

"I think he'd like your findings. Bring us once step closer to finding who the RedX is."

Tim cranes his neck to look up at the nineteen year old once more, a smile slowly forming on his face.

Dick knows that Tim would become an even better Robin than he could ever be.

—

 _Location: Titans Tower, Jump City_

"Man, I hate going through all these damned papers." Victor complains as he closes up a binder. Garfield has just given up at this point, the changeling fell asleep with his face planted on the table, no doubt that he was drooling. Victor sighed, and stood up for a stretch.

The doors slid open, revealing their local empath. She had a coffee in her hand which caused Victor to raise his human eyebrow.

"It's paperwork," Raven says, "when it comes to paperwork, tea isn't going to cut it."

Victor only smirks, "you damn right, sister."

The alarms blare and Garfield yelps and falls out his chair, "WHAT'S GOING ON, YOU WANNA FIGHT? I'LL FIGHT."

"Calm down, green bean. Just the Hive Five." says Victor, "Mind if Rae and I sit this one out, Kori?"

Kori nods and orders the rest of the team to head out. Speedy yawns and grumbles something incoherent, though Garfield did catch something about not sleeping…or maybe it was weeping…or…you know what it didn't matter.

Raven glared at the piles of paper on the table.

"Yo, Rae." Victor says, Raven's eyes move to look at her fellow teammate, "I regrettably inform you that these papers won't do nothing if ya glare at 'em."

Raven sighs and begins going through the stuff. It would've been a lot easier if _Robin_ had been here to help. A minute felt like an hour, and her eyes were beginning to droop. Only Cyborg's constant poking or sudden wet-willies kept her awake.

Before her third file, the team were back. Garfield was holding onto Kori, but she brushed him off before bowing and walking to her room. Roy limbed while Wally supported him, and the two headed to the med bay.

Garfield sighed and glanced at Victor, who got the cue and excused himself from the table. Her eyes then land on a complaint letter hidden under the monstrous piles of paperwork, she picks it up and scans through it.

At first she thought it was just some random complaint due to them 'destroying every building they come across' as told by the local newspaper, but her eyes stopped at "glowing alien". She rereads the letter only to find that Starfire must've blown up a warehouse…but she didn't recall going near one…

—-

Today was supposedly Robin's turn to patrol, but due to his absence, Raven would fill in. Roy decided that this was his most opportune moment, especially since Dick wasn't here. He trusted that no one (* _cough cough* Wally West)_ would tell Dick of his intentions of going after his RoyBots for the moment, because is Dick found out, he would take matters into his own hands despite being in Gotham.

Roy wasn't familiar with Raven, but he could work with her if the time came. Wally offered to assist, but Roy didn't really need him, though he did promise to call if trouble was ahead. Heading out with Raven wasn't really much of an issue, but she was giving him weird looks.

"What's with the new suit?" she asked, after approximately 3 minutes of silent patrolling.

"Felt like I needed a change in style."

"If you ever meet the RedX, he's going to be pissed you stole his colour scheme." Red Arrow looked down at his suit, it was still mostly red, just like his Speedy suit, but the yellow parts were replaced with black in attempt to differentiate the two archers apart (despite being the same person). He shrugged and laid back on Raven's circle of dark energy she stood on. That earned a sigh from Raven, "You do realise that you're basically lying _on my soul_."

Red Arrow's eyes immediantly widened and sat back up, his back up straight and facing forward. "I'm so sorry."

Raven scoffed, "if only Beast Boy was as obedient."

Raven dropped off the archer at a port, and retreated to the East side of Jump City. Red Arrow quickly acknowledged there was a presence watching over him.

And it wasn't Raven.

 _Shit, he caught me._

X quickly teleported to another building close by, while cursing and questioning himself exactly _why was Roy Harper here again_. The head of this gang promised him some money after a couple of favours he'd done for them in the past. Oh how he remembered the way they pleaded. Those were the good times. But if they thought he was going to forget and forgive, they were in for quite a show.

He teleported to hided behind the crates close to the ship owned by the gang, and watched closely the movements being made inside. He could make out the shadows, they were most likely playing poker. Real bets were made. Faint laughter could be heard from time to time. He snuck closer and hid from the views of the gang members who were on a security sweep.

One nearly caught him.

 _Nearly._

He was safe for now, but what about Red Arrow? He still hadn't made him move, if he stayed there any longer, he'd miss his chance on doing whatever he was planning to do. He could see the smoke rising from a cigarette on the main deck. No, wait, make that two cigarettes.

RedX sighed. _So much for wanting to sneak in._

He cast the Red Arrow one last glance before deciding to head onto the deck. The guys didn't put up much a fight, mainly because they weren't expecting him. One silent kick to the throat, a swift punch to the collar bone did the job. He tied them up with xenothium and headed to the lower decks, only to notice that he was running out of the substance.

"Guess it's just hand to hand combat from now on." X muttered to himself.

Red Arrow watched in shock. X took down the two guys in 4 seconds flat without so much as a hiss of pain! That's…almost as good as Batman! He aimed his grappling hook arrow and swung himself onto the ship, attempting to trail behind the thief. Unknown to the Red Arrow, RedX was already halfway through a fight. The archer kept his distance, and hid in the corners and shadows on the ship. While Red Arrow was hiding, poker cards were sprawled everywhere, as were the unconscious bodies of the gang members. Beer bottles were broken, and glass shards flew in every direction. Soon, before Red Arrow could even register exactly what the _hell_ X was up to, a gunshot went off.

His breath hitched, without thinking, he charged into the room, bow raised and ready to shoot.

To his surprise, X had diverted the gang member's hand and aimed it the table next to them. Red Arrow immediantly shot the gun out of the man's hand and onto the wall.

"Glad you finally showed, Red Arrow." X said, his voice more sounded more hoarse and out of breath than last time. Even through the voice adjuster, Red Arrow could tell that X was still healing from the injuries he had received from their last little adventure together.

"What brings you here, X" Red Arrow's eyes narrowed under his domino mask.

"I could ask you the same thing." said X casually, leaning on the wall. Red Arrow raised an eyebrow, gesturing X to talk first. "They owe me money. You?"

"They have my technology."

"Oh, the bots? Let them go, they've been sold."

"Without my approval though."

The door crashed down, causing X and Red Arrow to jump at the sudden noise. They looked at one another knowingly and go to work. X commenced the fight, taking down several men by simple kicks and punches, sending the toppling on one another. Red Arrow donned his bow on his back and launched himself forward, kneeing the men propelling themselves forward.

To X's surprise, they worked well together. Well, they had teamed up once before when they first started out as proteges. It was an unlikely duo, Robin II and Speedy, but it worked at the time. X didn't hold back on his attacks, sending them one after the other, effectively sending several men bleeding on the floor.

Red Arrow was good at hand-to-hand combat, but not as skilful as X was. There were a few times were X had to use xenothium to save Red Arrow's ass, which caused Roy to wonder what had motivated X to be a _good guy._

After a new wave of bruises and cuts on both sides, the duo finally got what they came for.

"Is this going to keep happening?" asked Red Arrow, zipping the duffel bag he'd brought the last time they worked together.

"I certainly hope not." replied the thief.

"Not that it's my place to ask," Red Arrow started, "but are you chummy with the League of Shadows?"

RedX's body stiffened. "They offered me a spot on their mobile assassins team. Why?"

"Cheshire dropped by. Said she was looking for you."

"She's terrifying." X said immediantly, "and I hope she knows that."

Red Arrow scoffed. He rarely was able to speak to a villain so casually. Taunting villains was one thing, but speaking to one without worrying over who would strike first when the other wasn't looking was sort of nice. Interacting with X seemed somewhat familiar, and that was what worried him.

"By any chance, are the bots explosive?"

Red Arrow's trail of thought paused, he cocked his head to the side. "Why?"

"I'd like to blow the place up. Destroy any evidence."

"You just like to blow things up, don't you?"

"I'm just keeping things simple, Harper."

Red Arrow's eyes widened and his mouth immediantly closed shut. _Who the hell is this RedX?_ Roy wondered if Robin had the answer to that, he seemed to have the answer to most things anyway. He'd have to ask the Titans on more intel about this guy.

"By the way. Oliver Queen is said to arrive Jump tomorrow afternoon for some Queen Industries meeting. Just thought you ought to know."

Red Arrow gave a nod of respect to X, after all, X had helped him despite going after different things. X gave him a salute before teleporting away. Needless to say, both Red Arrow and RedX were confused on this new alliance, but then again, neither were complaining.


	9. Nothing

**A/N: Thank you for reading/faving/following/reviewing!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. Teen Titans belong to DC (which totally stands for disappointing comics) and Warner Bros.**

* * *

"Mr. Roy Harper? Your name hasn't been scheduled for a meeting with Mr. Queen."

"I'm…um…a family friend."

Wally, seated in the waiting area some distance from the counter, looks up from his phone. Although Roy didn't want anyone to accompany him to come to meet Ollie so sort out the thing about his RoyBots, Wally didn't want him to feel alone. It wasn't that he didn't trust him, Roy is more than capable of handling himself, he's just afraid that things would get out of hand.

He knew Roy was bitter about this so he made sure he'd keep an eye out for him. He see's Roy nod at the lady behind the desk and heading towards his direction, he gives him a smile.

"So?"

"One thirty."

"That's an hour away." complains the speedster, who falls onto the couch with a huff.

"He's Oliver Queen. The most important person in his life is himself." Roy says, void of emotion.

Wally raises an eyebrow, partly agreeing with what Roy said. "How'd you manage to get yourself a slot in Mr. Queen's _very_ busy schedule?" he asks.

"I let her look at my staff card." He replies. Wally then notices how stiff Roy is. Despite saying how he doesn't really care about how Oliver see's him, he's still miraculously on his best behaviour. If this were anyone else, Roy would be lounging on the couch like Wally.

An hour sped by for Roy, though for Wally it was plain torture. Roy had to stop the speedster from moving too much too quickly. Someone came to fetch them to see Oliver, and Wally could see the blood practically drain from the archer's face.

The elevator doors open, and they are led to a glass room, where Oliver Queen is on the phone. The lady motions them to take a seat on the couch, on the glass table are numerous liquors. Roy raises an eyebrow and reaches for a bottle of whiskey, only to have Wally swiftly swat his hand away and glare at him. Roy rolls his eyes and folds his arms.

They hear Oliver end the call. The lady retreats to the elevators again, and are greeted with Oliver's smile that always charms the media.

"Roy Harper! Pleasant surprise!"

"Ollie." the archer says, not even bothered to stand up to greet his mentor.

"Oh, c'mon Roy-boy. Not even a smile? It's been a while you know." Oliver says, taking a seat on the couch. "Wally, how's training going?" he says.

Wally shrugs a little too awkwardly, "good? I guess? Barry says I need to stop eating junk food and focus on nutritious food instead, but I don't see him doing it."

"Hah, hypocrite."

"My thoughts exact-"

"All right, let's drop the niceties and skip the pleasantries, Ollie." Roy snaps. Oliver's eyes widen, and Wally just sighs. "I know you're making duplicates of _my_ designs. Designs that, are not only unfinished, but they belong to me and me _alone._ You've been producing them under _your name_ , I designed them from scratch, you just plagiarised my creation."

"If it's the credit you want-"

"No! I don't care about the credit anymore." Roy raises his voice, Wally closes his eyes. It's going to be hard to stop Roy's mouth from saying anything he'll regret later. "Stop making them! They're not finalised, they've still got weaknesses. One wrong trigger and two blocks could be gone!"

"I've calculated the percentage of that happening, and it's less than 1%."

"Yeah? Well it should be zero if you ask me! If something goes wrong, they're going to blame you. You fucking slapped your name on something that doesn't belong to you, they're going to go after you if anything goes south. They're not ready to be on the market, and they shouldn't be! I designed them for _fun,_ I wasn't planning on making any.

"You've got to stop producing them, before something happens. It's too dangerous. You know what happens when dangerous things fall into the hands of equally dangerous people! We've all seen it with our own eyes. Oh, and another thing. You sold a portion of them to the black market."

"How did you-"

"I have my sources. I know there are a couple of gangs bragging about how they've done business with worldwide known Queen Industries. It's got to stop!"

"Roy, do you seriously think I am not aware of who my customers are?"

"You're selling to criminals, Ollie!"

"Yes, and for the greater good."

"What greater good is there in something like this? Lives aren't supposed to be up for gambling."

"You think I don't plant tracking devices on them?" Oliver says, tone stern. Both Titans recognise this voice. It is the voice of the Green Arrow. "I exploit them by selling to them. I keep an eye on the crimes, I track down where they are and I put an end to them."

"Are you doing this in Jump or Star? _I_ had to clean up _your_ mess in Jump City, and this isn't even my base of operations."

Oliver sighs, "you know absolutely _nothing_ about business, Roy."

"You know why?" a dangerous gleam sets in Roy Harper's eyes, Oliver has seen it with people who hold hatred in their hearts, he isn't afraid of his protege, just worried about who he's become. "Because you locked me in that room of yours, building your weapons, drafting new technology. How could I know how business works, if all I'm allowed to do is be stuck in a room, designing things you'd claim to be yours?"

Roy gets up and walks past Oliver without so much as a goodbye. Oliver only closes his eyes and sighs disappointedly.

"I'm done being in your shadow. I'm done with being _nothing_ , Green Arrow."

Wally's eyes widen in fear, regretting his choice of not telling Dick about today.

* * *

A run in with Cinderblock after dinner wasn't anything out of the ordinary. The Titans put him down without breaking a sweat, but Beast Boy notices something out of place - and it didn't have anything to do with Robin being on vacay (or something). He glances at Raven for confirmation and see's her eyeing Starfire warily.

Yeah, something's definitely up.

They return to the tower and they drop their hero-act. Wally immediantly launches himself at the fridge, with a sighing Roy trailing behind him. Victor stretches, cracks his neck and sighs in content. Garfield stays silent, watching Rae analysing Kori's every movement.

 _She's more stiff she normal_ Garfield concludes. Raven seem to have noticed him staring, he blushes a little and heads to his room for a change of clothes. Before he gets back, Starfire announces that she'll be off for patrol and heads to the roof of Titans tower.

"But we just got back!" whines Wally, his mouth stuffed with Vic's pancake.

"Let her be, Wally. This is their city." Roy says, plopping himself down on the couch. Wally hums and continues eating. "You owe them a lot of money, Wal-man." Roy sighs. Wally slowly puts back a few pancakes, a guilty look plastering on his face.

Raven sighs and heads up to the roof where Kori is. She has yet to take off, and Raven wonders why. She transforms into her soul self and emerges behind Kori.

"Mind telling me what's up?" she says, Kori jumps and inhales sharply.

"I did not hear you arrive" the warrior says, her hand to her chest as she evens her breathing.

"I thought you were over that…walking nuclear thing" Raven says, her voice softening ever so slightly. "Or is this about Dick not being in Jump?"

Kori shakes her head and flashes Rae a smile, "It's nothing, friend Raven! Perhaps the absence of friend Richard really has shook my core." her smile turns sheepish as she blushes a faint shade of pink, "There's just a little less energy in the tower" she concludes.

Raven smirks and raises an eyebrow under her hood, "Less energy? Are you kidding?" she says playfully, pulling her hood down. "We've got Kid Flash living in this tower, if anything it's full of energy."

Kori sticks her tongue out and the two laugh.

 _Okay, so she's not moping as much. That's good._

"All right, I should go and perform the patrolling." she says. Kori takes off into the air, her hair whipping behind her uncontrollably, yet extremely elegantly. Raven sighs and transforms into her soul self once more, shadowing her. It's not that she doubts Starfire's ability, she's just worried. Not to mention, Dick told her to keep an eye on Star ever since the man insulted her.

She's just keeping her promise.

Jason Todd recognises that sound. He knows what's flying nearby when his cheap-and-nearly-broken windows bang like that. He turns off the TV and shuts off the lights. The room is silent for a while, and then a soft, but audible _ffttzzzz_ is heard and the room is empty.

Red X reemerges on the roof of the building next door, he watches Starfire circle around the area. "What the hell" he mutters. He didn't cause the Titans trouble this week, in fact, he teamed up with one just a day ago! What do they want now? He groans internally and gets to higher ground.

If Star wants to talk, he'll be there for her. Not that he'd admit that aloud. He hasn't spoken to anyone lately, and it's refreshing to mess with her. Not to mention, Starfire really struck a nerve the last time he saw her face to face. She surprised him by being that one person who believed that he was good.

He believes that the hero has spot him, as that annoyingly familiar heat comes closer. "So, what brings you here now, Titan?" he greets, his back still turned to her. Starfire raises an eyebrow, clearly not in the mood to deal with X's quips and cocky attitude.

"I came across this." She says, unwrapping some black cloth. She passes it to X with care, both hands cradling the object. X reaches out for it, eyes widening once he realised exactly what it is.

"Where did you get this?" He asks. Wrapped in the cloth was a RoyBot. The ones X and Red Arrow/Speedy were hunting down. "Starfire, how'd you came across this?"

She hangs her head in shame, which makes X more interested in the story she has in store. "C'mon Star, don't leave me hanging."

"I was just...I wanted to explore docks of Jump...and...well, there was the Fire of the guns somewhere, so to fulfil my duty as a Titan, I flew into the warehouse-"

"Hold on, THAT WAS YOU?" X says in a hushed voice, half in rage and half in worry. Though he would never admit, he worried for the Titans. He had been on the other side once, and he knew what it felt like to be taken away from the ones you love. "You could've died! Do you know what these bots do?"

Starfire only smiles. "It is most amusing to have a friend-"

"Who said we were friends?"

"like you. You don't judge me for who I am, and even though you and the titans got off the incorrect lower extremity of the leg below the ankle-"

"Wait what?" - oh 'got off the wrong foot' got it.

"I still believe that one day, you can make peace with the titans."

RedX sighs, and rolls his eyes. "Yeah, sure, Starfire."

"Although, I must say, the explosion was not caused by this object...it was me..." she said, "I am unsure of what to do with this...device. I figured perhaps you would know."

"Um…well, I'll just hold onto it before you blow up that nice little tower of yours." he says, tucking the device into one of his many hidden pockets. Although Starfire has a small smile on her face, X could see right through her.

He could also see looming figure a couple buildings away, watching him and Star. _Probably Raven._

"Why the long face?" he asks.

"Oh? I admit, I am not aware that my face is considered-"

"No, I mean, why are you sad?"

Starfire's eyes widen, her normal smile creeping back onto her face. "See we are friends!"

X only chuckles, thinking what the actual hell is wrong with this girl. How can she peacefully talk about her problems with a criminal like himself?

"What say you help me with something? There are bad people trying to sell these bots. I gotta track them down and beat them to it. Wanna help?" X offers. Starfire's head tilts to the left, confusion in her eyes, but she agrees nonetheless.

Raven watches in surprise. _She just agreed? Just like that? How could she trust him?_ Although she didn't sense anything harmful in X (at the moment) they never teamed up with their villains unless it was of the upmost importance. Sure X helped Robin from time to time, but helping Starfire was something else.

The pair headed towards the darker areas of Jump. The areas where crime rates were higher then the rest, where criminals rule the streets, where a civilian wouldn't last a week without being mugged at least once a day.

Raven eyes X suspiciously as he cracks open a lock. He opens the door quietly and leads Starfire downstairs. Raven narrows her eyes and turns into her soul self to follow them inside.

As soon as her soul self enters that building -basement really - all she senses is pain and fear. She tries to concentrate on making sure she's not seen, but there were so many emotions, so much pain. She started feeling dizzy, weak and nauseous. Then she sees them. RedX was freeing the victims trapped here while Starfire targeted the henchmen with guns.

"Don't move, _Titan._ " says a voice. Raven's adrenaline spikes. She kicks her opponent in the stomach throwing him backwards. "You little-"

"AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!" Crates fly in all directions, making the henchmen fall down on their backs mercilessly.

"Raven!" chirps Starfire, X turns around and glares at the empath. She glares back. He knows she'll want to interrogate him later.

He hears the click of something, he looks up and see's an AK-47 pointed at Starfire. He teleports himself towards the man and attempts to knock him out cold. Raven catches on and flings the forgotten pieces of sharp wood at him. He was quicker, more skilled. Once X was in front of him he pulled the trigger.

Starfire screams.

Raven unleashes hell on the man as the room envelopes in darkness, the only light visible were Raven's four eyes. Two slicing sounds and a scream occurs. She and leaves him unconscious and bleeding on the floor.

Starfire scoops X up, despite his protests and Raven teleports them back into the tower. X hates this. He knows he's in the hospital wing but he hates this. Starfire puts him on a bed. They can't heal him _now,_ there were still victims in that basement.

"Raven, you have to take me back-"

"Stop talking, save your breath."

"There are-"

"I know. There were more people-"

X pulls Raven down by her hood. " _Children,_ Raven." X spits out.

Garfield senses the overwhelming smell of unfamiliar blood and follows the scent. He see's X holding Rae by her hood and he charges at him, only to be stopped by Starfire.

Raven swallows as she hears the word 'children'. She takes a deep breath. "Okay, give me the coordinates and I'll send the Titans."

* * *

 _Location: Wayne Manor, Gotham City_

Dick's gears are still turning, trying to wrap around the fact that Jason Todd could be the RedX. Tim's evidence do make sense, everything fell into place. There was just one problem though - Jason Todd is dead.

After a day of training, Dick leads an overly exhausted, yet still enthusiastic Tim back up to the manor. Tim washes up and Dick calls it a day. He also checks his communicator, just in case the Titans called.

 _0 missed calls. 0 emergency signals._

Dick raises an eyebrow. Maybe he should leave Raven in charge more. No distress signals, no calls for help whether it be stopping Gar from eating too much tofu or a full scale attack on Jump, no Starfire missing him.

His mind lingers on the thought of Starfire. He wonders how she's doing. Sure, he could just call her to make sure she's all right, but Raven distinctly told him to give her some time. Something about evaluating herself, and a possible existential crisis. Something Kori has to do _alone._

Dick takes a shower before opening his laptop to check up on the Titans, he supposes he should introduce Tim to them, but then again, it would only make him want to be Red Robin even more…and Dick, being the protective brother he is, wasn't ready for that to happen.

Not after Jason. Not after hearing how he could still be _alive_.

News of the Titans handling non-metas are on the first page of Jump News, he clicks open the article and finds a picture of Starfire comforting a young child, approximately six by the looks her him. He's proud that they've rescued these children locked in the basement ( _? Honestly, the world is turning more insane everyday!)_ with traces of heroine in the blood? Dick's eyes narrow at the article.

He would've known if such things happened in Jump, so why was this unheard of? How did the Titans even know about it?

He calls them on the communicator. Beast Boy picks up.

"What's up, Dick?"

"What's this about saving drugged children?" he inquires, Beast Boy's smile falters, "Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of you guys, but…how did you find out?"

Beast Boy chuckles nervously, Dick can tell because his smile isn't as bright, and guilt is etched on his face. "I think it's best you talk to someone that knows more about this than me? Maybe like, Raven? I don't know?"

He hears a muffled scream.

"Beast Boy, what's going on?" his voice laced with worry.

Beast Boy shakes his head, "Nothing you need to worry about, we've got it under control. Enjoy your trip to Gotham bye!"

 _Nothing. Yeah right._


	10. I'm far from home

**A/N: Thank you for reading/faving/following/reviewing! Sorry for delayed updates! Finals are almost over though, which means updates will be more frequent than before. Thank you for sticking around!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. Teen Titans belong to DC (which totally stands for disappointing comics) and Warner Bros.**

* * *

Cyborg watched as the JCPD rescued the drugged kids from the basement. The entire block was closed down for the ambulances and police cars, reporters were booming with questions as Beast Boy tried to assure them that the Titans will soon give them the answers.

Cyborg offered his services and helped the officers scan for the kids' identity. Most of them were presumed dead, others missing for years. The many detectives on the case were in bewilderment as they've failed the cases, or gave up the cases due to the lack of leads and evidence. Kid Flash and Starfire were on crowd control duty, Speedy was back at the tower, incase X tried anything. Ever since he and Kid Flash returned that afternoon, Cyborg could sense something off about the archer.

Speedy was hard to read when he first got here, but he enjoyed fieldwork, he would complain about it, but Cyborg knows that in reality, Speedy was having a good time. He would use cocky one-liners to piss his friends off, but it was all harmless, good fun for him.

He was aware of his visit to his mentor, The Green Arrow, but that was about it since he didn't bring it up again. Since his confrontation with The Green Arrow, the guy went silent. No more egotistical comments, no teasing, nothing. Kid Flash didn't open his mouth either, which was a surprise. Raven probably knows something about it, but really, it wasn't their place to go about and try to find out about their private and personal matters, behind said person's back.

Come to think of it, Starfire's been acting a little off as well. Raven had informed him about a warehouse explosion caused by Starfire, though he hasn't have the time to discuss about it with her yet. Raven suspects it's just a phase, it'll pass once Starfire figures things out. After all, her abilities are based on her emotions. What worries Cy is how long it takes for Starfire to return to her normal self. He knows very well that Starfire is on a journey of self exploration. Her identity, her place in the world and such. He's been through it all a long time ago, all by himself. It took him some time before finding his center, and making his decision to use his abnormal abilities to help people instead of just hiding away from the rest of the world. He also met the Titans, which helped him understand that some things weren't meant to be gone through alone.

Starfire's recent development of accidentally destroying property was expected, given that her powers are a little hard to control. He gets it. He's destroyed billions of stuff before he understood how to use his Sonic Boom cannon. It's just her tendency to shut herself away from the Titans, and go to the RedX for comfort that concerns him. It's not that X is a bad guy, despite causing trouble in Jump from time to time, but what made her go to X in the first place? Robin made it clear since the first day the Titans united as one, that 'if there were any problems, anything at all, you'll know who to call'

Which brings him to another concerning matter - what if they've simply dismissed her calls? What if she had approached them before, but they didn't respond the way she hoped they would? Therefore resulting in taking off and finding someone else who would listen?

"You may be half metal, but I can feel your gears turning." Says Raven, appearing in the shadows next to him.

He yelps and glares at a smirking Raven. "I'm getting too old for this, Rae."

"When are we returning to the tower?" she asks, clearly bored of the cleanup process.

"Soon" he replies.

Beast Boy calls for help from Kid Flash in answering the press' questions, Kid speeds towards him and takes some weight off the changeling's shoulders. Cyborg glances at Raven, who has her heads down and uncharacteristically fiddling with her hands.

"What's wrong?"

"How did we not know?" She says, her voice only a soft whisper. "How did _I_ not know?" she glances at the younger kids, most of them unconscious, some are no doubt _dead._

"Our speciality is dealing with Metas, none of these kids-"

"They were going to _become_ metas. Some of them, at least. The ones that survive might show traces of powers here and there, but I doubt it's strong. The medics say that the drug they found in their blood systems are underdeveloped, and the substance is as rare as Xenothium."

"What the fuck, they're injecting unstable elements into kids?"

"Something like that."

"Do you think RedX knows about it because whatever's in that drug could be provided by the same people extracting and creating his Xenothium?"

Raven simply shrugged, "Only one way to find out."

* * *

 _Location: Wayne Manor, Gotham_

Dick Grayson was picking out the books off his shelves. Smiling slightly at the picture books Bruce or Alfred used to read to him when he was younger. How many years has it been? It all seemed so far away, too far away for his liking.

Tim poked his head in to alert Dick that dinner was ready, when his eyes land on the book his older brother was holding. He smiles, Dick realises for the first time that Tim's eyes sparkled with the same glimmer of hope he once had. Well, still have whenever Alfred bakes cookies. Tim points to the book, "I've heard about that tale, Clark comes over sometimes and tells me stories about Krypton." he says, "the story of Nightwing and Flamebird was the one I liked most."

Something clicks in Dick's mind. _So that's where he's heard the name before._ When Starfire returned from travelling through time, she told him about his change of alias. He only brushed it off as something he'd heard as a child, maybe a bedtime story. He wasn't wrong, it just didn't occur to him that _this_ was the Nightwing she referred to.

"Hey Tim," Dick says, a small smile playing on his lips, "what say Robin of Jump City returns as Nightwing?"

Tim smirks. "Does this mean a new costume? We can probably make one in a day's time."

"Sounds like a plan, kid-genius."

After dinner, Dick resulted to calling Roy to update him on how the Titans are doing. He was greeted by a weak smirk from the archer, who assured him that Raven and Cyborg are handling the situation. Dick glared at Roy and deadpans "I mean what's the situation?"

Roy grudgingly tells him about the children kept at the basement, and how RedX got hurt. Dick's eyes widened when the name "RedX" was mentioned, and to think that the reason why the self absorbed thief was at their tower was because he took a hit for the Titans? His mind automatically thought about Jason, but Dick pushed it aside and kept focusing on the fact that RedX saved Starfire, X, the guy who cared about nothing but his own satisfaction. The guy who dismissed everything unless there was something in it for him.

The guy who helped him defeat Chang. The guy who helped him retrieve his briefcase. The guy who's rhythm in fighting was shockingly too similar to someone he once knew.

The guy who could easily be Jason Todd.

Dick thanks Roy for keeping him updated and enters the new information into the Titans log. He tries to distract himself from the pain of thinking about his brother. About how Starfire could've gotten hurt.

How he's probably been fighting someone he took for granted for so long.

 _Location : Titans Tower, Jump City_

"You're lost, Roy Harper. This isn't your home." croaks Jason, Roy winces at how bad he sounds. This is the first time Roy's heard X's voice, his voice adjuster was busted and mask ripped when he took the hit for Kori, yet something inside Roy feels that he _knows_ his kid.

Something clicks. Even X could feel the atmosphere change, despite his eyes closed and face half concealed.

"Yeah," Roy replied, "Well this isn't yours either, Gotham-boy" X visibly stiffens immediantly and his heart rate spikes a little before returning to it's normal pace. His hands are shaking, which means Roy was right all along. "I know it's you Jason Todd." He continues, "I've suspected it for some time now. Only a bat could pull off your stunts."

"You just like to spoil all the fun, don't you." Jason turns his head to glare at the archer, who has his arms crossed, head cocked to the side. Jason notices that he's not wearing his uniform, just a tank top, sweatpants and a baseball cap. "You look like a loser."

Roy's eyes suddenly turn cold, void of emotion. Almost blank. "Remember…a long time ago, when you saved me." Jay tilts his head a little before deciding it wasn't helping his wounds, "The time when Ollie and I disagreed and fought a lot…and when I was a druggie?"

"You mean that year when you and Queen ruined the League Christmas party?"

Roy snickers, "Yeah, the months after that were a pretty rough for a sixteen year old."

 _Jason Todd, AKA. ROBIN was on patrol that night in Gotham City. The Bat trusted him enough to let his protege handle his usual zone, plus, he was sure Catwoman was looking out for him anyway. It was an unusually quiet night, perhaps it was why Batman had decided on letting Robin go alone._

 _On cue, a few punches were heard. The sound of broken glass cut through the disgustingly polluted air, with a stench of death reminding the city of it's unforgiving villains._

 _In a dimmed alleyway stood Roy Harper, well, a Roy Harper attempting to stand on his own without losing balance. Robin narrowed his eyes and saw the blood trickling down his figure. Springing into action, the Boy Wonder landed outside the bar, causing at least a dozen men to sprint away. A couple of kicks and wrestling allowed tracking devices to stick onto clothes._

 _Robin let them go. He'll get them later. He always does. He picked up the homemade bow and arrow, clearly at the brink of breaking, and sighed. He makes his way to the boy known as Speedy-_

 _" …call yourself a superhero? You dirty lowlife drunk…"_

 _A smirk found it's way onto Robin's voice. He knows this guy, and he had a lot of guts to be staying in Gotham City._

 _"That coming from a guy wanted for assault in three different countries?" His hands snaked it's way to reach a birdarang._

 _"Who—"_

 _Bullseye. Right where Robin wanted a cut on that bastard._

 _"They really don't make anonymous thugs like they used to, huh?" A swing and a kick, and the man was down. His friends reached for their weapons, but Robin quickly beat them to it "Look how easy you break" A punch sends them flying backwards, knocking them out for the night. He kicks the wanted man for assault in a man's most precious area with the look of triumph apparent on his face._

 _"There, that's better." He declares, "You're Roy Harper, aren't you?" he says, turning to the figure on the floor. "I'm Robin. Version II, actually — but I bet you could figure that out on your own"_

 _The boy was at a loss for words. "Why…why are you helping me?"_

 _"They took these from you back in the bar. I thought you'd want them returned." Said Robin, "My predecessor told me that you're a good friend of his, before you fell off the wagon. Wanted to let you know that…if you need a friend, I'm here."_

 _Roy scoffs "I don't need friends. Friends just let you down." he says as he reaches for his equipment._

 _"We all need friends, Roy." Robin says with a smile, Roy couldn't help but smile a little at the kid. This Robin is most likely only thirteen and he just beat up a couple of thugs. Some hero Roy was. "You change your mind, just come find me." Robin takes out his grappling gun and points it upwards "I'll be waiting!"_

 _That was the last time Roy Harper ever saw Jason Todd. Until now._

"You were right you know…" Roy said, "We all need friends."

"Is that how you stopped?"

"Yeah. That and the fact that Dinah couldn't live with herself if I just overdosed." He says, the smallest smile appearing on his face. "I don't know, after being abducted for some game of stealing powers, I realised that I had friends. I had Dick, and Wally. I had you to go to. I just…figured I should make my life mission to battle drug lords and pushers. No one should experience what I did."

Jason nodded slightly. The solemn atmosphere was clearly bothering Roy, his hands fidgeted uncomfortably, and he tapped his feet against the concrete. "Remember how you said that "Red Arrow" was too much like Green Arrow?"

"Yeah…" said the injured boy carefully.

"I want to cut off all ties to that guy…What do you think about Arsenal?"

Jason's lips quirk upwards "Well Roy Harper, annoyance to human kind, accidental liability, and my new partner in crime." he says, "You certainly do put the 'Arse' in 'Arsenal."

* * *

 _Location: Research Lab, Titans Tower_

X was not much help. Doesn't know what or where the substance is or came from. Underground criminal organisations didn't use them, and if they did, X hadn't came across them before, therefore he didn't have the answers the Titans were looking for. Wally sighs as he hangs up the phone. Barry said he'd help, but Wally knew he couldn't rely on him _too_ much. He gave the information to Barry Allen, not The Flash. Dumb move, but he didn't want the Justice League to think the Titans were incapable of solving this local mystery. It was bad enough that Batman was paranoid, he didn't need the entire League breathing down their necks.

"I've sent our analysis to STAR labs," declares Wally, "we should be hearing about what the hell is in that drug." He glances at Raven, Victor and Gar's fatigue faces, and their effort of covering it with fearless rage. The blue under all that red was seeping out despite their efforts.

Wally looks over to Kori, who's on the communicator with Dick. She isn't doing much better either, in fact, she looked more drained than the rest of the team. She was standing instead of floating, only using one hand to hold the device, and her hair no longer whipping around.

Kori felt more tired than the time they had to save Raven from Trigon. Physically she was all right, she could still stand, she could fight if need be, but she was emotionally torn. It started with one comment, then loss of focus, then more criticism and more accidents. She knew her powers were developing, but that also required proper training in order for her to master the upgraded strength and even more destructive powers. Lashing out the energy within her on the Titans' day to day enemies probably wasn't a good idea. Suppressing them until they explode in warehouses wasn't the brightest thing to do either.

"Kori? You okay?" Her eyes lock onto the tender shade of blue, staring right back at her. "Get some rest, Kori." Dick says with the softest smile. She nods, stifling a yawn. "One more thing," Dick says. Kori hums in response. "Can you also check on X?" She nods again and bids him farewell.

Kori excuses herself from the lab and Garfield does the same, bidding goodnight to Vic, Rae and Wally.

"What a rough week, huh, Star?" Garfield says, eyes drooping as the duo walk towards the common room.

"Agreed. Although we usually are the ones dealing with the metahumans, this week seems to be quite unusual."

"Yeah…but I guess a hero's work shouldn't be limited." Garfield continues, "We're here to bring justice and peace to all…not just, Jump…or anything."

Kori smiles and ushers Garfield to his room (despite his protests of 'I'm not gonna pass out, Star!') and heads for the hospital wing. She halts after swinging the door open, she see's Roy half dressed and blushing while X reloads his weapons.

Her eyes glow green. "Just where do you think you're going?"

"Uh-oh. Busted." mutters Roy.

"Look, Starfire. You want answers about the drug? You find Batman. He probably knows everything given that he doesn't have a life. While you Titans do that, Roy and I will _interrogate_ a few suspected associates."

Kori narrows her eyes, "And what makes you believe that I will simply let you out the Tower?"

They can't see it, but they can feel X smirk. "Princess, you'll keep your mouth shut because you know they can't get answers just by analysing the substance." Kori's green eyes stop glowing. "You've been in those kids' shoes, you know what it feels like. You're not just going to sit by and piece things together with clues like Golden Boy does." With that X grabs Roy by his shoulder and teleports out of the tower.

 _FZZZST_

Raven's eyes widen and flies towards the hospital wing. Kori is sat on the bed, eyebrows furrowed and hands glowing with energy.

"We must take action." says the red-head firmly.

Raven sighs, "We can't if we don't know where to start."

"We must take action." Starfire says again.


	11. I will hear you call

**this is probably not worth such a long wait, and I sincerely apologising for abandoning this fic for a year? two years? I've lost count. Life became a little more complicated for me, schoolwork, applications and such have been taking up my time during the last few years. However, I don't wish to discontinue this, instead, I am hoping to rewrite this entire story. I can't remember much of what I've already written (it's been too long forgive me), but I know it's more messy and complicated than it should be. Originally, I had no plan, I just wanted to do this for fun and give something back to a series that shaped my childhood, but I want to produce something of quality, and currently, it's not going as great as I had hoped.**

 **If you're reading this, I giant thank you for still checking your emails or reading up to chapter 11 (with the previous 10 chapters setting everything up ahahah wow I'm terrible at organising!). When the time comes, I will revise this fic (and maybe post this elsewhere as well). I'll look forward to seeing you all then I suppose!**

 **This will be the last instalment for _Hey Brother_ for now. **

**Thank you for all your support so far.**

 **( MareAlba and MissGeek your reviews prompted me to post this chapter. Thank you for bringing this back.)**

* * *

 _Location: Wayne Manor, Gotham_

It doesn't take a genius to know that Bruce spies on the Titans Tower from time to time. It also doesn't take a genius to know that Dick is very aware of Bruce's spying habits and trust issues.

But this time Bruce had a reason - not that his monthly spying wasn't without reason or just plain paranoia. This time, things were different. RedX was lying in the hospital wing. Bruce couldn't believe his eyes and had to do several scans just to make sure this wasn't a joke by either the Titans, or X himself.

RedX was a mystery that Bruce knew Dick Grayson was obsessed with. Something Dick blamed himself for. "Something that shouldn't have been created" if he recalls correctly. Bruce didn't think it was exceptionally unhealthy, after all, Dick is a detective, and part of the job meant going over everything until everything had a legitimate explanation. Bruce understood why Dick was so uptight about this, but it didn't mean that he wanted Dick to be like this. Like _himself_.

The outlaw had been discussed at the Wayne manor from time to time. After all, RedX would always make the front page of Jump City due to the damage he would cause - not that journalists were able to get a clear shot of him. Not to mention, Tim took interest in after he hacked his way into the files of the late Jason Todd. Most importantly, the punk beat up the Joker until all his bones were fractured, broken or worse.

Bruce couldn't tell if he was stupid or just incredibly dauntless - all the more reason to keep checking the tower incase anything devastating happens.

Alfred would always say that Bruce's spying habits weren't constructive, but Bruce thought otherwise.

Basic information about RedX was known to the public via news. However, due to access to the Tower, he knew how big a deal this RedX was. He's seen reports on the news and the cuts and bruises on the Titans after the fights, or heard Dick complaining about this _madman r_ unning around the city, "destroying things and putting it on the Titans' tab" to Alfred on the phone, he knows the emotional impact that wakes them up at night from the stress in Robin's voice when the Titans and X go head to head.

Inviting him _into_ the tower meant something equally serious was going on.

Moreover, the fact that Dick lacked knowledge about the situation made the entire event more suspicious. It wasn't that he didn't trust the Titans - he has high hopes for all of them, or else he wouldn't have sent Victor Stone an invite to join the League - he just wasn't sure if they could handle someone like RedX alone like this. The Titans have never caught him, but have worked with him. They've been on his tail, stopped his heists, but never managed to hand him over and put him behind bars. They seemingly remained on friendly terms with the outlaw. To be fair, Bruce couldn't decide whether it was good or bad.

 _It's little like Batman and Catwoman._ He thought bitterly. _Minus the attraction._

Dick then says something that manages to make Bruce's blood run cold.

"No, Dick. You can't just take Tim to Jump."

"And why not?" The boy whines, "He's a Robin, he should familiarise himself with-"

"No." He says firmly. "Not yet." He knew Dick had thought (for years) that earning experience through practice on the field would be more practical. But after Jason? Bruce wasn't ready. _Tim_ wasn't ready. As he said - not yet.

"Bruce, you can't just keep him indoors like this!" He says, tone lighthearted but strained, just slightly.

"He hasn't completed all of his training." Bruce's eyes are stone cold, freezing Dick's warmer hue of blue. Dick manages to hide his slight shudder. "I let you go solo because you knew what you were doing, Tim's too young for that."

"And how can he learn if you keep him off the field?"

Alfred hits the back of their heads with the morning newspaper.

The original Dynamic Duo close their eyes simultaneously as their heads throb at the impact.

"Perhaps we shall ask Master Tim regarding this matter." The butler says, turning to face the newest 's eyes go wide, darting between Dick's smile and Bruce's slight frown.

"Well…" he clears his throat, "Bruce, I know…I know you're worried, but as long as Dick is there I'll be-I'll be fine." He starts, hands look for something to grab onto, before settling for the hem of his shirt. He takes a calming breath."I need to see for myself, and perhaps even learn a thing or two from a team that I may lead someday." He says hopefully. "If anything goes wrong, we'll call home."

Bruce was about to retort as Alfred glares. The Bat sighs. He doesn't like this. Not with all this going on, but for the sake of Tim, he nods reluctantly.

"Dick, Tim is your responsibility. Therefore your top priority. Don't-"

"We'll both be fine," Dick reassures. Tim beams as Dick ruffles his hair affectionally.

 _He's all grown up now._ Bruce thinks, slightly disappointed. It seemed only days ago when Dick Grayson hid behind his cape, or baked cookies with Alfred and later stealing said cookies. Wait, no, stealing cookies _did_ happen just a day ago. Anyhow, Dick grew to become a loving brother, which was more than Bruce could ever ask for. He just wished he had more time with him as a child...

Bruce had let Dick go too soon, but if Dick were to grow to be his own person, letting Dick find himself without his constant interventions was the only way.

Alfred seemed to have read Bruce's mind. The Butler has seen the various expressions that Bruce Wayne has had on his face, and this one occurs almost daily. The classic mixture of fury and fatherly worry. Alfred chuckles softly, and Bruce asks him what's so funny.

He replies. "You look just like your father, Master Bruce."

* * *

 _Location: Jump City_

"Are you sure you can kill."

"What kind of question is that."

"I gotta make sure."

"I swear, X, you're more paranoid than your brother. "

"He's _not_ my brother, Harper." His hiss stings the air, but despite everything, it is harmless. "We're getting off topic. Are you sure you're gonna fire that arrow when it comes down to it?"

Roy Harper AKA. Speedy AKA Red Arrow AKA _Arsenal_ looks at RedX dead in the eye and squints. He doesn't know him all that well, but he kept asking him the same question. X is still doubting his ability to fight back and take a life. He doesn't really know whether to take it as a compliment because he's never crossed the line before or to just punch him to knock some sense into him.

"Look, Todd. I'm going to be fine, it's not-"

"You take this turn and you don't go back. You can't go back. Once your hands are bloodied, there's no way to wash them off." X says. "Ever."

Arsenal eyes soften. There is pain in X's voice, the voice changer attached to the X-suit proving to be useless against the bottomless pit of emotions as X speaks. He sighs and closes his eyes for two seconds, calming his mind, before nodding at the thief. X nods back, "My plan…involves killing. Something you Titans won't approve of, I know."

A snicker is heard "I don't exactly qualify as a Titan now, I'm probably disowned."

"Good to know. Moving on-"

"I will try not to kill," a third voice says, the two red clad ex-Titans jump at the sudden presence of an outsider. They turn simultaneously, weapons aiming at the source of the voice, ready to fire. "But if I must," she says, "it will be for justice." Her hair glows a bright orange, the colour of fire; of burning sunsets; the colour of rage and fury and anger. Her eyes and hands illuminating a dimmer shade of green, a shade so rare that mesmerises even the brightest stars in the darkest of nights.

Starfire stares ahead with anger. She will not allow innocent people to be hurt again. She will not let the powerless be oppressed. She will not repeat the horrors that occurred on her planet so many years ago. She will prove to herself and others that she is not only a walking nuclear reactor - no, she is so much more - she is the Princess of Tameran. A power mankind cannot control, and should not attempt to, because she knows that she is the only one with full control of who she is. After debating and laying out all her options, she decides that this is who she is. She decides that serving justice the way she wants defines her more than anything else, even if it means leaving her friends. She decides that joining forces with RedX may be the only way she can truly find herself.

X nods respectfully at the princess. He cocks his head towards Arsenal, motioning Starfire to come closer and join them and teleports them to a warehouse. It's grim, dark, but the cool breeze swirling in the air reminds them that it's not completely sealed from the outside world. The warehouse lights up, a rather melancholy shade of blue wraps the three figures as X places a device on the dust tainted floor.

 _Holograms,_ Roy notes.

He also notices the technology is strikingly similar to Wayne technology, but it wasn't exactly the same. Figures. Jason Todd must've tinkered with some of Mr Wayne's stuff in his spare time.

Maps of Jump city, linked to Steel city as well as Gotham were floating mid-air. Some buildings were marked with an arrowhead. It was a mess of red lines and crosses, around with a few arrows, and annotations added on. The Titans tower was a beacon of light, the brightest building on the map, the _only_ building emitting white light. Roy raises an eyebrow in amusement "What's this? Future date destinations?" He jokes.

"Don't flatter yourself," X says. He explains that the red lines and blue buildings marked the streets, blocks and buildings that X had some power over. Red buildings scattered here and there accompanied by bright white arrows pointing at them were the buildings X found suspicious.

"This will be our next target." X declares, pointing to the blue building marked with white arrow shape. "It may be storage for your robots."

Roy's head snaps towards X. "What do you plan to do with them."

X shrugs causally, fidgeting with this gun holster, "You want them back, don't you?"

If Roy wasn't completely puzzled before, he sure is now. He looks towards Star for confirmation, and even she was just as surprised.

"Wait, you're volunteering to _help me?"_ Roy hates this feeling of nostalgia, but his memories find it somewhat welcoming. A part of him sees the X-suit replaced with a Robin suit - and oh he'd be at ease if that were true - but times have changed. X has changed.

"There's a catch isn't there? You need something from them don't you?"

"Jump is better off without those unsteadied exploding machines, don't you think?" X smirks.

Star's face immediately brightens, "Friend X, I had never entertained the idea, but you do carry traits to be a Titan!"

X groans and ignores her "We're going to be up at 0400, get all the sleep you need."

* * *

 _Location: Batcave, Gotham_

Robin - no - _Nightwing_ stared at his reflection in pure awe. His smile mirrored the one he wore whenever he put on the Robin suit during his days with Batman. His eyes, however, were vastly different. Instead of the naive gleam of hope he used to have, he carried a melancholy expression. He was excited, and eager to try out what this new suit had to offer, but this meant complete segregation from the idea of being Robin.

Perhaps he wasn't ready to let that aspect of his life go just yet. He glances over to a babbling Tim, reciting literally everything he knows about the suit "the suit's made of a version of the Nomex fire-resistant, triple-weave Kevlar-lined material - effective protection against damage! Oh! It's also electrically insulated. Which is super cool!"

Dick smiles and pats Tim's head. Seeing the new generation of Robin so enthusiastic put his mind to ease.

He chose to go with a more flexible suit, something that matches his style of fighting. _"Move more, get hit less, B"_ He would say. Instead of a cape, the suit was designed to be light sensitive, darkening when there is more light in the area - something he'd been planning to integrate to his Robin suit ever since he created RedX.

His favourite part? The stylised blue "wing" across his shoulders, extending to his hands, colouring his index and middle fingers. The brightest thing on the suit. A reminder of his identity as a bird, a Flying Grayson and the first Robin.

"I see your habit of getting flustered while staring at yourself hasn't faded, Master Dick."

Dick turns and beams at Alfred. "Thanks, Alfred. I could've never done this without you." He then turns to Tim, still looking up in complete astonishment, "You too, little bird."

A soft smile graces Alfred's usually unintentionally stern face. "Master Timothy, I suggest you start packing your bags for your visit to Jump City." Tim nods and heads to his room. "Master Dick," Alfred starts, "you need not worry about the mantle of Robin. It is in good hands."


End file.
